


Resident Evil Ruination

by bassnotbass



Category: Resident Evil
Genre: Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Slight lemon will become lemon in future, Suicide Attempt, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-06-01 10:40:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 77,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15141332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bassnotbass/pseuds/bassnotbass
Summary: A mission gone wrong and you're left in a country you don't know with people you're not sure if you can trust. The only thing you knew is that your only memories were ones that were told to you. What will you do if those memories are forced back onto you by the very person who found you after that mission?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is fairly dark and contains a suicide attempt. Please, if you're struggling with suicide reach out for help.
> 
> This is probably going to be a long story and more than likely not having regular updates. But I will try my best to post as much as possible.

Seated in an outdoor patio across the street from his apartment, you stir your drink aimlessly. Normally you don't drink on the job, but this isn't just any job. It's a run-in with a past that died some number of years ago. A part that you buried deep down and over the past few years drowned it in whiskey. And now here you are, drinking a jack and coke with a silenced Kimber 1911 tucked to your side. No need for an arsenal, you just needed one shot. Meanwhile the people around you are happily chatting over their drinks and food, while you sit tucked in the furthest corner that offered the least amount of light. Not that it mattered, you hardly look the same now. Your eyes scan over the apartment where the light on the 6th story window clicks off.

'I'll give him a bit. It'll be easier when he's asleep.'

Turning your attention back to your immediate surroundings, you pick up bits of the various conversations. 'Can you believe Jeff was passed over for that promotion?' 'I'm telling you, this dog is untrainable.' 'Ugh, what kind of wine is this? It tastes like an 83. I asked for an 85. The 83 is absolute shit.' You scoff. Sometimes you envy them. You never had the luxury of worrying over the smallest mundane details of life. The government made sure of that. Your life was mapped out since you were 6. The only time that stopped was when you left. Or were left, you should say.

The waitress came by interrupting your train of thought. "Can I get you another miss?"

You shake your head, "No thank you. I believe I'm almost done for the night."

"I'll bring you a check", as she turns to walk away she pauses and turns back to you. You raise your eyebrows in question. "I don't normally do this," she starts a bit sheepishly. "But it looks like you're missing someone. I don't know if he was supposed to show tonight. But I know that look, cause I've worn the same one more times than I want to admit." She pauses looking down at your empty drink. "Men are dumb. You need to be the one who goes and fixes it or you need to walk away from it all." She looks up and gives you a self deprecating smile, "took me four years to actually do that." 

You give a genuine smile back at her, "sometimes women are dumb too." The waitress laughs shaking her head. "But thank you." She nods and walks away to get your check.

You look back at the apartment across the road. The lights are still off. Did you miss him? You didn't dwell on it anymore...but if you did? You stand suddenly throwing a couple of twenties on the table, not waiting for the waitress. 'Those are dangerous thoughts, and now's not the time.' 

You leave through the gate on the side instead of through the front of the restaurant. You cross the street quickly punching in a code to gain access to the apartments. After all these years, you still retain muscle memory without even recalling the numbers. Taking the stairs, you ascend quickly to the 6th floor. Walking silently down the hall, your fingers lightly trace the gun hidden under your jacket. Clicking the safety off, you run your fingers along the barrel to make sure you did attach the silencer earlier. Finding it, you unclick the holster and pull your hand back to your side. 

After a couple of more doors, and you're stopped in front of 643. Taking a key out of your jacket pocket, you twirl the cold metal in your hand. It had been years since you used it. Remembering the day you got it, you laughed and playfully swatted at him. It was a lilac color with a tiny feather imprinted on the top. You grip the key tight in your palm digging your nails in. 'Definitely dangerous thoughts', you say to yourself. Quietly, you put they key in, pushing open the door, and silently closing it behind you. Bringing out your gun, you ready your aim glancing around the apartment. 

'Everything looks the same.' Your eyes scan around the tiny kitchen and the living room. Waves of memories came flooding in bringing with it some highly unwanted emotions. You start remembering minute details. Pans were in the corner cabinet, microwave door had to be pulled up slightly to close it, backup whiskey hidden behind the cereal in the cabinet above the fridge, one 9mm in the bathroom and another strapped under the kitchen island, .45 under the couch cushion.

You lower your gun slightly, eyes fixated on the couch. After a particularly rough mission, you were sat on the corner with his head in your lap. He was beat up. Bruises were shining through and small cuts marked up almost every inch of him. You were running your fingers through his hair lightly scratching at his scalp with each pass. You don't remember how long you sat there but you could see with each pass of your hand the stress from his face would slightly lessen. He had a very swollen black eye and his lip was split in the corner. Taking special care not to aggravate his current wounds, you lightly press your thumb into his temple and move it towards his ear. He hums in approval, making you smile lightly and continue your ministrations.

You heard the footstep before you saw him. Aiming your gun, you had almost pulled the trigger when the light flicked on. "I would say don't move or I'll shoot, but it seems redundant since I'm gonna shoot anyway", you coldly say.

He says nothing. Utter surprise showing on his face. 'His hair's longer', you think to yourself. With age, seems like his normal blonde turned a bit darker. He's let some stubble grow and looking at him now you decide you like the look. You watch as his blue eyes drink you in greedily, not seeming worried in the least about the gun aimed for his head. His fingers twitch on the empty glass he's holding. 'Probably still having nightmares'. 

He pushes out a shallow breath, "Y/N..." he says.

Something tight grips your chest. The sound of your name on his lips was something you weren't prepared for. His voice causes a dam to break and each and every moment together came rushing back. Everything you tried so hard to kill with sheer determination, and drowned the rest in an empty bottle. You shake slightly as you hear his voice echoing your name through the past; when he called to tell you he was heading home after rescuing the president's daughter, when he showed up at 2am at your door covered in blood from Simmons, when he reached across the bed for you when he had another nightmare, and in the morning when he just stirred from his sleep to pull you close and bury his face in your hair.

Lowering the gun slightly, you take a deep breath and aim at his head again. Your throat tightens, "run Leon." You swallowed hard. You just signed your death warrant. Unwanted tears well up in your eyes. It was either him or you. 'After all this time you still chose him. What the hell is wrong with you?'

Leon shakes his head. "No. I won't run. Not this time."

You're still trembling but through sheer will, you keep your aim true. "Please Leon...you don't get it...you need to run." 

Leon sets his empty glass on the counter just a few feet from where you stood. Pressing his mouth in a thin line he looks his your eyes, "I don't think YOU get it, Y/N. I would rather take that bullet in my head than run away from you again."

You close your eyes at his words, tears flowing freely down your face now. You hear him move towards you and your eyes fly open while taking a step back. "Stop! I mean it Leon!" you shout still aiming at is head. "You don't know what you're doing here!"

Leon freezes liked you asked. Your eyes look him over again. 'Him or me', you repeat to yourself over and over again trying to find the will to pull the trigger.

"Y/N..." he breathes out in a whisper.

Before you even consciously thought about your decision, you lower your aim and pull the trigger shooting him in the leg. You hear him grunt as he he goes down on one knee. Putting your gun against your temple, you straighten your back looking at him. 'At least this is preferable than what I'd go back to.'

Leon's eyes widen as he moves toward you. "I'm so sorry," you choke out as he yells your name. You hear the sound of breaking glass as you pull the trigger on yourself.


	2. Chapter 2

10 years ago

You comb through your wet hair pulling it tightly back into a bun. The final test was earlier this morning and you were just waiting around your apartment for the call to see if you made the cut. Looking around you clean up bit and try to keep yourself at least a little busy while waiting.

Humming to yourself you let your mind wander back to the time when this all started. Your dad was the president's body guard at the time while your mom spent most of her time in a lab. His pay supported most of the work done by your mother who was currently researching a cure for cancer. Her efforts were brought to the attention of government who succeeded in recruiting her to a newly formed BSAA facility. Because of this, all of your life was spent in some type of government office or in a lab. 

Watching soldiers outside always fascinated you and when most little girls grew up wanting to be teachers, you wanted to be a soldier. For your 6th birthday your dad got you a bow and arrow. On his days off, he'd bring you outside and had you practice. That summer he enrolled you in a martial arts program. On your 7th birthday, he got you your first knife. And at Christmas your first gun. Your mom wasn't thrilled about any of it, but you assumed that dad had always won the argument.

It wasn't long after Christmas, the facility was placed in lock down during an attack. At the time the lab was located underground of the government offices your dad worked in. You don't remember much of what happened. But you do remember being pulled out from under a desk after an explosion. Your mom grabbed you and ran towards her lab, locking all the doors behind her. She frantically grabbed a case from a locked cabinet and pulled out a gun. Loading it she stuffs it in the back of her pants as she types furiously on the keyboard. You were so in shock, you couldn't even speak. The lab equipment came to life behind you mixing some sort of liquid as your mom grabs keys from her top desk drawer. Another explosion goes off and you watch in horror through the glass as gruesome monsters start tearing away through the lab. The glass rooms were slowing them down but not enough. 

Your mom grabs you and presses the keys and gun into your hand. "Y/N, I need you to listen very carefully. The red key is for your dad's office. The black is for the utility entrance for the building. Do you remember where that is?" You shake your head yes. "Good. Stay quiet and make your way to your dad's office and lock yourself inside." 

The monsters crash through the next room over. Your mom grabs two of the containers behind you and a couple of needles. Filling them she grabs your arm. "This is to keep you from getting sick." She injects you when one of the monsters spot her and lets out an ear piercing roar. 

Shakily she grabs you and moves to the corner of the room. "You're going to have to go down the chute." You look at the small door beside you. The people in the lab threw their clothes down the chute when they needed to change after coming out of the lab. You look back at her in a panic, knowing she couldn't fit.

"I can't go by myself!" you scream.

"You can and you will. Once you're down take two left doors then the next right. It'll lead you outside to where you can get to the utility entrance. Lock yourself in and wait for me or your dad." She opens up the door and situates you to slide down. The monsters were slamming themselves against the lab door causing the glass to crack. She places a quick kiss to your cheek. "Be very careful. I love you, I'll see you soon." She pushes you roughly and you fall hearing the glass shatter and the chute door slam shut.

You thankfully didn't need the gun as you made it to your dad's office with no issues. You locked yourself in as your mom told you to do. For hours you waited until you heard the lock slide open on the door. Grabbing the gun you aimed at the door like your dad taught you coming face to face with a BSAA agent. "Y/N?"

Knowing the voice you lower your gun and click on the safety. Robert had trained your dad and they stayed close friends. He's been over for dinner several times. Tears well up in your eyes. "Have you seen my mom or dad?"

He grabs you and picks you up. "I haven't yet. But I've got to get you to a safer place first."

You wipe your tears on your sleeve. "Ok. But you're gonna look for them right?"

He readjusts you in arm so he can still carry his pistol. "Once you're safe, I'm going to find them." You nod as he takes off down the hall.

Days later you're sat in a front pew at your parents funeral. Looking down at your lap you barely hear the man up front talking about your parents. They are pictures of them across the top of their closed caskets. A lot of them had you in it. You look up at Robert who was seated beside you. Unshed tears were shining in his eyes as looked at you. Crawling into his lap you press your head against his chest and listen to the sound of his heartbeat as you feel his tears begin to drop. 

Robert officially adopted you a month later and ever since you've trained to become a BSAA agent. You wanted to stop what had killed your parents. To stop other kids from growing up in a unsafe world.

Your phone rings bringing you out of your reverie. Shakily you pick it up thinking it's the call from the BSAA office, instead it was your friend Chris. "Hey what's up Redfield?"

"Y/N!" He basically bellows in to phone. "They called! I made it! I'm an agent!" 

You laugh at his excitement. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Did you get a call yet?" 

You blow out a breath, "not yet. I thought it was them calling when it was just you."

"Don't worry, they'll call. You basically did just as good as I did."

You scoff, "I think your memory's messed up Redfield. I did better than you."

He laughs on the other end. "Sure whatever you say. Gotta go, I've got to rub my scores into the guys faces."

"Of course you do." You smile, "seriously though, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks Y/N, call me when you get the call." He hangs up without saying goodbye. You shake your head. He never says bye.

A knock sounds at your door with a questioning "hey ace you in?"

Robert's standing on the other side as you open it. He's aged quite a bit throughout the years, but aged very well. Light silver peppered his temples and more tiny lines began to appear on his face. "I wanted to tell you in person."

You frown as you led him toward the kitchen. Robert was your dad but also your commander. He did the testing earlier this morning. "What do you need to tell me?"

"Maybe you should sit," he starts nervously.

You try to push down the panic welling up. That's never a good sign. "I'm fine, just tell me."

"...you didn't make it in."

You sat there in shock. You thought you did well. In the field test you were first to finish. You thought you did good on the written as well. Half the guys couldn't even keep up with you. Hell you were one of maybe five girls that started this program and the only one to finish.

Robert grabs your hand. "Why?" you choke out.

"Because your scores were too good."

Your panic subsides into utter confusion. "I'm sorry what?"

Robert's stony appearance cracks into a shit eating grin. "No you did make it in, but going through your training and your scores, you were hand picked by the president himself to become a DSO agent."

You huff out a surprised laugh. "You're kidding." You were trying to make it into the BSAA and you somehow landed yourself as a federal agent?

"Congrats Ace."

You smile fondly at Roberts nickname for you but you smack him for leading you to believe you didn't make it in. "Oh my God! What do I do now?!"

Roberts smile turns a little sour. "Well first you have dinner with your old man. But then you pack and leave tomorrow at 600 hours."

You go still as the situation hits you. You're leaving. Probably for good. For the first time in years, you'll be without your adopted dad. He's been there through everything. He trained you and kept you together when you had nothing. This man raised you on his own. 

He sees the look on your face. "This day comes for everyone. It's our time now. I knew it the day that I opened the door to your dad's office and you were there." He laughs, "never in a million years would I have ever thought that I'd go into a room and see a 7 year old holding a gun trained to my head. You were standing there scared out of your mind but you never waivered your aim. I always knew you were special. And over the years, I'm still right."

You laugh as he smiles at his little joke. "Of course."

He grabs your hands his voice a bit gruff from emotion, "you know I think of you as my child right?" He pauses as he's going to say something then he changes his mind. "Love you Ace."

You smile at him squeezing his hands. "I know."

He pulls you into a tight hug. "Brat." You laugh into his chest. "Come on get going so I can take you out for a celebratory dinner and drinks."

You pull away from him. "I can't drink yet."

Robert pulls a face. "You're a federal agent. If you can pull a gun on someone, you can have a beer."

"By that logic, I could drink at 7."

Robert shakes his head. "Damn straight. At 7 you were more deserving of a beer than most of the men I know." 

You shook your head. How did this man ever manage to raise a child?


	3. Chapter 3

At 4am you're perched beside your bedroom window watching the steam from your coffee waft into the air. It's still dark out and you've already packed for the next day. Everything you cared to take with you fit in two medium duffel bags. You were never one to care about a whole lot items. 

Dinner last night was bittersweet and you had no idea how Robert pulled it off but he did get you a couple of beers without the waitress asking questions. He even called your friends to come celebrate with the both of you. You looked around at your three friends and Chris's sister trying to soak in the moment. It may be the last time that you see them all together. You smile fondly as Robert was retelling the story about Redfield's first field test which was a total disaster. Chris laughed just as much as Robert did when he talked about him falling off the ladder when he came face to face with a rat in the building. 

Of course Chris couldn't leave it at that and started telling about your failed test. There were several tests going on that day and they had run out of dummies. So your rescue mission was to save the hostage which was a bag of flour. You didn't hear what kind of bag it was and didn't think to ask. So the training mission was going well without you hitting any silent alarms, but coming to a locked room in the back you assumed that the 'person' you were trying to rescue was in there. Made sense. Once you picked the lock there was a small duffel bag in the corner. Picking it up you made your way out to the 'extraction' point with no problems. You remember smiling at Robert thinking that you just passed with flying colors, but your smile faltered at the confused look on his face. Apparently someone didn't block off that area like they should have and you rescued someone's change of clothes. You were no where near where the hostage actually was. 

You laughed at Chris's outlandish rendition of the story. "Y/N saved someone's jock strap." The next table over gave you guys shocked looks and you mocked throwing your dinner knife at him.

"You know," Claire started quietly, "I always thought that maybe one day he'd grow a pair and ask you out. I mean you're all he talks about to me."

You look over at Chris talking to Robert and the guys about their favorite memories of training. Chris liked you? Surely not. "I think you're misunderstanding. He's my best friend. We spend a lot of time together."

She hums. "Yeah maybe." She has a look like she doesn't believe you.

Later that night when you were saying your goodbyes, Chris pulls you into a bear hug. You laugh as you push against him trying to ease the pressure off your rib cage. "Government agent. I can't believe it. I'm never going to be able to take you seriously."

You smile, "well as long as other people do. I hardly doubt the government cares what you think," you say smiling a bit more at your little joke.

Chris isn't though and he's looking off in the distance over your shoulder. You almost turn around to see what caught his attention. "You have a choice you know. You don't have to go. You can stay with the BSAA like you had planned."

"I know. But do I really have a choice? I was picked by the president himself. Who says no after that?" 

Chris barely shakes his head. He's still staring out at the same spot. "Well in that case don't change your number just in case I need to call you." He takes out his pocket knife and cuts the bracelet around his wrist. He grabs your hand ties it quickly around yours. Chris always wore 3 small bracelets that never came off. You asked about them once and he brushed it off. You didn't ask again. "This one's for luck. As a DSO agent, you're gonna need this more than me."

You look at him confused. Chris has a myriad of emotions flashing across his face. He looks down at you again and pulls you into a hug. He places a quick kiss on the top of your head. "Keep in touch" he says as he turns and walks away. 

You didn't say anything back but look over to where Robert's waiting a few feet away. He gestures as you walk up to him. "Really?"

"What?" you say as you keep walking past him heading home.

"He likes you," Robert falls in step beside you.

You groan out loud. "Not you too." You see Robert's questioning look in your peripheral. "Claire said the same thing. We're just friends."

He huffs and throws his arm around you. "Damn, I was hoping this would be the day that I whip his ass. I guess I'm going to have to wait a bit longer."

You laugh cheerily, "really? You've been waiting?"

"Ever since you were 13 Ace. I mean, come on, you're really the only girl around hundreds of teenage boys. And when Chris showed up, I just knew by the way he took to you I was going to have to deal with that when he finally asked you out. When he didn't, I thought it'd be someone else at least." Robert fake pouted, "but no one did that I know of and I never got a chance to put one of these boys in their place. Guess that rumor did the trick."

You stop walking and stare at him accusingly. "Excuse me?"

He holds up his hands, "not me Ace. I heard a rumor not started it." He pushes on the small of your back to get you walking again. You go along with his direction. "One of the superiors had overheard a group of boys talking and one of them was saying how he was going to ask you out. Apparently another boy stopped him saying that you and Chris were together. That was the first time I had readied myself to kick his ass." He popped his knuckles as you shake your head. "Another boy said that you two weren't together, however he wouldn't want to have to deal with me or Chris if you said yes to dating him."

"So you two are the reason I never got asked out?"

Robert puffs out his chest, "I'm a scary man my dear."

You laugh, "I guess it's just as well that everyone assumed I was dating someone. I wouldn't have accepted if someone did. That's just a distraction that I'm not willing to take on at this point."

"One of these days, Ace, I'll have the pleasure of kicking someone's ass."

You roll your eyes, he really was a still a child deep down. "What are you going to do if I meet someone at the DSO?" 

"You're going to fly him here so I can kick his ass," he grins.

You scoff into your now empty mug of coffee. Sighing you make your way back to your coffee pot to pour another. You were excited to see a new place and be working for the government. You knew it was dangerous. More so than the BSAA, but it's not like they'd just throw you in without anything. 

"Ace! I made waffles!" Robert yells from outside your door.

You sigh. You're sure that the other soldiers appreciated that at 5am. Opening it you place your hand on your hip, "would you keep your voice down? There's people sleeping."

"What are they going to do? I'm their commander."

"Yeah," you whisper furiously, "you're also mine as well. But as your daughter I'm asking you to keep your voice down as you're visiting me at 500 hours. You're not here on business."

Robert scoffs as he pushes past you to set the food down on the counter. "Waffles and bacon are business, Ace. I thought I raised you better than that."

Sighing, you give up and close the door. Robert makes you a plate as he chomps on a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth. "So" he starts as he speaks around the bacon, "are you excited? Nervous?"

"Yeah both. I don't really know how to feel. I don't know hardly anything about the DSO and have no idea what I've signed up for."

Robert shakes his head, "I understand, but you're prepared Ace. I'm sure you can handle anything they throw at you."

You hum taking in Robert's words of encouragement. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"Always" Robert says as he's cutting up his waffle.

"Why didn't you ever marry or even date someone?"

"Why do you ask?" he says not looking up.

You shrug. "I don't know. It's something that I thought about but figured maybe you were seeing someone casually. But I never heard about it or even met anyone. If you were I figured I'd know at some point."

He pauses, "I was married before. She was killed by a drunk driver."

You sigh. You didn't want to bring up bad memories right before you left. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's ok Ace. It was before you were even born." He looks for more bacon and finding none he swipes it off your plate. You give him an evil look but let it happen. "I did go on a few dates after you became my daughter. Nothing ever panned out. I realized that I wasn't really involved."

"What do you mean involved?"

"I'm not sure. Like my heart really wasn't into finding someone. It was until much later I realized that people find each other when they're lonely. You have to want to share your life with someone and vice versa. I already did that. And I wasn't lonely. You were always here. Plus I never found someone that I actually wanted to share this part of my life with. When you're younger, it harder to do in the BSAA. You're being sent to all corners of the world at a moments notice without guarantee that you'll be getting to use that ticket back home. A lot of people can't deal with that very well. Now that I'm no longer being sent out but training these boys to do what I did, I'm sure it's easier. I just don't know if I want that just yet."

You ponder over his words. "I was a kid. You weren't technically alone. But your child doesn't replace finding someone you love."

Robert puts away his plate of food. "Ace, maybe one day you'll get it and you'll understand. I didn't create you. I chose you when I adopted you. After that, I always had someone to fight for and to come home to. There's been plenty of times that I was so close to not making it home. But I knew you were there alone. After your parents...there was no way in hell I'd ever let you experience that again. And somehow I'd always find a way. No matter how old you were, I'd come home and you'd throw yourself into my arms. Trust me, I never needed anything else. You were more than enough."

You swallow hard at his words. "You're getting soft on me old man." 

Robert laughs and takes your now empty plate. "Maybe that's why they don't let me out in the field anymore."

You grab your bags and your thermos of coffee for the road. Robert checks the time. "Well shit, we gotta get going."

Walking out you lock up and hand him your key. He takes it roughly from you without saying anything. You frown but keep quiet. He throws your bags into the jeep. "I forgot something at my place. We'll swing by there before the air field." You nod silently.

He doesn't speak again until you're out on the air field where they're doing last minute checks on the helicopter. You should be at the DSO office in 3 hours. You pull your bags out of the back of the jeep and set them on the ground. 

Looking over at Robert, he's staring at the helicopter with his jaw clenched. Tentatively you lay a couple of your fingers on his arm. He clears his throat, "this is harder than I had thought it would be."

The helicopter starts and one of the crew runs over to tell you that they are clear. Robert nods as he runs back. He turns and grabs your bags walking swiftly to the helicopter. Throwing your stuff in he gives you a helping hand in and watches as you strap yourself in. Checking your belts he hands you your headset and you take it lightly from him. 

"Here," he yells over the sound of the blades, "I want you to have this." He places a small silver band in your hand. Looking at it, it had engravings on the inside. "It was my wife's wedding band."

You put it on with tears in your eyes. "Thank you...I love you, you know?"

Robert gives you a small smile, "I know". He grabs your head and places a quick kiss to your forehead and turns away before you can say anything. He hits the side of the helicopter twice signaling the all clear. They take off almost immediately afterwards. 

Once up, you look down over at Robert standing by the jeep watching you leave. Making sure he can see you, you raise your fist into the air then put it over your heart. The same signal he did to you everytime he left for a mission. You see his sad smile as he makes a fist and hits over his heart twice in response. 

You wipe your tears as the helicopter turns and obstructs your view of him. Putting on your headset, you hear the pilot's voice. "That's a good man there."

You shake your head. "I know," you say, your voice thick with emotion.

"We're right on schedule" the pilot replies changing the subject. "Sit back and enjoy the flight."

You nod silently twirling the small band on your finger. Turning your head, you watch the base disappear into the distance.


	4. Chapter 4

The DSO headquarters was nothing like you thought it would be. Just outside of the city, sat a small concrete service building. Looking at the driver who picked you up, you were about to ask if he was going to the right place, but coming to a stop you realize that they wouldn't just have a building full of agents in plain sight. You look around at the small set of trucks with an electric company's logo on the side.

"This is us," the driver speaks shutting off the car.

You nod as you grabs your bags and stretch your legs. You follow closely as he walks into the building and shuts the door behind you. Blinking rapidly from the brightness outside your eyes land on man sitting behind a desk. He didn't even look up when you two had come in.

"What do ya say Frank?" your driver says as a greeting.

The man lifts his eyes barely taking in you and the driver. "Living the dream", he says in such a bored, monotone voice that he may as well been asleep.

The driver never stopped walking when he greeted Frank but you did. You half jog to catch back up with him. The driver peers sidelong at you, "Frank's not one for chitchat."

"Surely not" you reply sarcastically.

Your driver huffs a small laugh and stops at door with a keypad attached. He types in a long series of numbers and the wall beside it detaches and slides over. You stare as he presses a button to call an elevator. Moments later it appears and the door slides open. Your driver gestures, "after you".

You walk on tentatively and watch in amazement when the hidden door slides back into place and the elevator starts making it's way down. "That might be the coolest thing I've ever seen."

The driver turns and looks at you, "how old are you?"

You bite your lip thinking he's chatising you for thinking the elevator is cool, "19."

He whistles, "I swear the DSO keeps recruiting younger each year. What test did you take?"

You looked at him confused, "Um, I'm not sure. I was training in the BSAA. I took my field and written test for that. I was waiting on a call for those result when my commander came by and told me I was wanted at the DSO."

"So no test? Who called and said they wanted you?"

You hesistate hoping that you weren't fixing to break some sort of protocol. "The president."

He whistles again, "well then."

The elevator comes to a stop at the end of a fairly long hallway. Offices litter each side with nameplates. 

Following him again you ask, "Does that not usually happen?"

"What not happen?" he says looking over.

"Not taking a test. The president picking someone?"

He stops at the end door and puts in another code. "It's happened once before. And he's the best agent the DSO has got."

You push down the nervousness that came with that statement. 'That's quite a bar to set.'

Opening the door you were greeted happily by a small lady who looked to be in her mid 40s with wild curly hair. She seemed to vibrate with energy. "Hey you two!"

"What do ya say Tiffany?" You scrunch your eyebrows at him, 'Is that his default greeting?'

"Living the dream!" She says happily. 

Your driver smiles over at you. "Good luck kid" he says walking away.

'Good luck? With the DSO or Tiffany?' You look back over at the visibly excited woman. She comes around the desk to shake your hand. You stop yourself from wincing when her ice cold hands grab yours and shakes it vigorously.

"I'm Tiffany! Well I guess you heard that already but some people are bad at names. I'm not though", she says proudly, "I remember every name to come past my desk! What's yours?"

"Y/N"

"Oh my god! That's a beautiful name. Goes well with how you look! Y/N," she's still smiling at you not saying anything else. Clearing your throat you look around. "Oh how silly of me." Tiffany rushes over to her desk. "You have a meeting and I'm just yammering away."

Typing in some numbers on her phone she waits until a person picks up, "Miss Y/N is here to see you," she says just as cheerful.

It seemed like she didn't even wait for a reply when she hangs up. She walks over and links her arm in the only free one not carrying your bags. "I'll walk you over to Miranda's office. She can be a bit quiet much like yourself, but she's just the best person ever!"

Slightly confused you fall in step right beside her. Tiffany's talking nonstop as you take in your surroundings. The short walk over to an office five doors down was impressively filled with Tiffany's life story in a short summarized format. Opening up the door, without knocking, Tiffany gestures inside. "This is her office!"

Walking in slightly a woman about the same age as Tiffany stands up from her desk. She comes around to shake your hand and you could instantly tell that she was not someone who played around. You returned her firm shake with one equal and a small smile played on the corner of her mouth. "Thank you Tiffany."

Tiffany shooes Miranda with her hands. "Oh it's no issue at all! Y/N's lovely!" Tiffany stands there and beams at you. You give her a small smile back. An awkward silence ensues as Miranda had dismissed Tiffany but Tiffany hasn't realized it. Miranda looks back over at Tiffany raising an eyebrow. "Oh! Yes! I'm so sorry! I think I'll go take my lunch now. Excuse me." Flustered Tiffany lightly closes the door.

You look back over at Miranda and she chuckles at the look on your face. "Just set your bags down there for now and come have a seat."

Dropping your bags you sit where Miranda had gestured. "I want to go over a few things that you should expect today and the upcoming months," she say as she sits as well. "As a member of the DSO you will no longer exists outside of it. I normally talk about no social media presence however our search of you didn't come up with anything so that is less we have to do. Also with your special upbringing there's hardly any footprint to erase so I'm sure Hunnigan will be relieved. Today we'll get your lab work and paperwork done as well as issuing your equipment. Tomorrow starts your physical and testing. You will train until we feel you are fit to be out on the field. Hunnigan will be your normal support on any missions you're sent out on. You will also be trained along with her so that you can work together cohesively. Any questions so far?"

"Does Hunnigan support other agents?"

"Just one." Miranda waits a moment seeing if you would ask anything else. At your silence she continues, "Your living expenses are covered by the DSO and should you need to purchase anything else unrelated to work it needs to be paid for by your alias. You have a bank account already established in that name in which you'll be given paperwork for today. Your social security card, birth certificate, driver's license and such will be provided. A fake minimal online presence will be established should anyone look your alias name up. Your actual name is not to be given to anyone outside of the agency. If at anytime your identity is compromised you will be reassigned immediately. If it happens too many times, you will be terminated."

You go still as you wonder if she's meaning your position or yourself.

Miranda leans back in her chair and gives you a quizzical look. "Do you understand?"

You didn't really but you shook your head yes anyway. You were just going to assume that she meant your death.

Miranda rubs her finger roughly against her bottom lip. "Off record?" You shake your head for her to continue. "A lot of sacrifice is going to be asked of you. And we expect it willingly and without hesistation. I understand you know your circumstances are unusual with being chosen for this position?" Again you nod. "There's only been one prior to you and he was out on the field after two months. Currently the best one we have. There is a lot expected out of you, more so than the agents that took the usual route here. And we need the best help we can get with everything going on. If you don't think you can handle it, you can walk away now. But if you accept and walk out of my office you won't have a choice anymore. There's only one way you're leaving."

You look at Miranda and she searches your eyes for some sort of reaction for her last sentence. You sniff, "so where do I sign?"

Miranda gives you a full blown smile. "You remind me of him." She dials a number to have someone come get you. "Once you're done today, you're expected back here at 0500 hours to start your physical." 

Tiffany opens up the door with a smile. "Let me show you to the lab! It's so neat, you'll love it!"

You look back over at Miranda. "Good luck agent," she says with a wide smile. Again you weren't sure what she talking about.

*******************

It was 2200 hours when they were finally done and the driver you had earlier came to collect you. Throwing your bags in the back of the car you heavily fall into the front seat. 

As he's pulling out you rip off the bandages on your arm from where you had blood drawn. Stuffing the things in your pocket you let your head fall back onto the headrest.

"You haven't even begun."

You press you fingers into your eyes when your stomach lets out an enormous growl.

He chuckles, "I'll stop somewhere to get you some food before I take you home."

You nod in relief, "thank you. I haven't ate since this morning."

You look down at the manila folder in your lap with Alyssa Carter written on the outside. Your alias for the rest of your life. In it was your newly taken drivers license photo and all the information needed to access Alyssa's things. Alyssa recently graduated college at 22 and worked as an outside PR consultant for various firms across the US. You shake your head. A job where you worked mainly from home but wouldn't be suspicious if you were gone for weeks at a time. 

"You'll get used to it."

You look over at him. "I never got your name."

"Jack."

You nod, "given or alias?"

He smiles, "given. Timothy is my alias."

You look over his features highlighted by the city lights. "I like Jack better."

Jack nods, "so do I." He comes to a stop at red light and looks at the time. "Should have you there in 20 minutes or so. Burgers are fine?"

"Beets would be fine about now" you say wrinkling your nose.

He scoffs, "I wouldn't do that to you."

Laughing you turn to look out the window. The city was beautiful in it's own way but you missed the sounds of the base. "How long have you been an agent Jack?"

"I've lost track. Fourteen maybe fifteen years. Give or take a few years."

You smile, "what do you do when you're not driving people around."

"I report to Miranda, I mainly do a bunch of office work and scouting prior to missions that are delivered to other agents."

You tilt your head at him, "wouldn't you rather be the person out in the field?"

He sighs heavily, "I was. I lost my partner out on the field. I tried to work with others after that but it just wasn't the same. I couldn't keep focus. I became a liability. So I requested a transfer of sorts. Thankfully they still found a use for me."

"I'm sorry that I brought it up."

"Don't be. These things happen. I'm good where I am now."

You nod falling silent as he pulls through a drive through and orders food. You wait until he pulls back out onto the road before you start talking again. "Will I have a partner?"

"More than likely", he says turning to pass by a slow car. "Rarely do they send you without any support when you're new. Only seasoned agents get sent out alone. It's not like the DSO has an unlimited supply of highly trained agents at their disposal. So they do everything in their power to keep us alive."

You steal a french fry out of the bag. "How many of us are there?"

Looking over to see you eating he copies you and steals a french fry for himself. You close up the bag and give him a dirty look. "I don't share."

He laughs, "if that's the case you're going to be broken of that pretty quickly. You're going to share more with your partner than you ever had in your life." He swipes the bag quickly out of your hands and grabs a handful of fries before you can get the bag back from him. He gives you a triumphant grin.

"You never answered my question," you say as you set the bag beside you next to the car door.

"Officially?" he says through a mouthful of fries, "I have no idea. About 50ish that I know of. Not all of them here in the US. I'm sure there's more. But when you're on a need to know basis..." he shrugs.

'That's not that many at all,' you thought.

Finally he parks beside an apartment building. "Home sweet home," he says with a grin. "I'll help you carry your stuff."

Your apartment was on the 9th floor. Jack had grabbed your bags plus the one from the DSO that was given to you. Walking up to your door, you put the key in unlocking your new home. 

"Fancy" Jack says looking around.

You look over at him unsure if he was being sarcastic or not. He's smiling a little to himself as he puts your bags down on the kitchen island. It was definitely fancier than what you were used to. Your apartment was on a good end of town close to the entertainment district. It seemed to be newly remodeled with new appliances and flooring. Looking around, the DSO had fully furnished the place in light colors. Coming into the living room you stop and see a collage of photos on the wall. Coming closer you realize that it was photos of you with some people that you didn't know. 'Photos of Alyssa with her friends,' you corrected yourself. The DSO had photoshopped you with some people on vacation, at graduation, and just some odd and in daily pictures. You shake your head, they really go all out with these aliases.

"It's late. I'm gonna let you get settled and I'll be back here tomorrow morning to come get you."

You turn back to Jack, "thank you. I'll see you in the morning."

Jack nods and quietly closes the door behind him. Locking it you turn with a sigh at your new apartment. Checking the time you realize that if you go to bed now you'd get about 4 hours of sleep in before you'd have to get up. Wiping your eyes again you figured you better get to settling in. You devour your food in record time and jump quickly into the shower. You throw your bag of clothes into the bottom of the closet and grab your weapons out of your other bag. You carefully hide some of them in various places around your apartment but leave your handgun and knife in the top drawer of your nightstand. Taking the bag from the DSO, you find that you've been given a new cell and laptop, the smallest earpiece you've ever seen, and another handgun. 

Setting this stuff on your nightstand as well, you realize that you didn't even turn on your personal phone. Digging through your clothes, you find it and turn it on. Immediately it starts vibrating with missed messages from your friends and Robert. Chris had texted you 6 times wishing you good luck and asking if you were ok. You sent him a quick text letting him know that you'd call him as soon as you could. You replied to Robert letting him know that you were fine and that you missed him. 

You did the same for everyone else until you noticed the time. '0100. I have to be up in 3 hours. Shit.' Turning your alarm on, you fall face first in bed and set the phone beside you. It didn't take long before you're fast asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Your alarm trills happily in what feels like minutes later. Groaning, you smack your phone blindly in hopes of turning it off. With every ounce of effort you can muster, you push yourself off the bed and make your way into the kitchen. 'I didn't buy groceries' you thought as you blinked blearily at the coffee pot. Saying a small prayer you open up the cabinet above to find a few snacks, some cereal, and...hallelujah, coffee. After starting it up, you trudge into your bathroom. Wincing at the bright light, you grab a washcloth to wet it and scrub at your face. There's small signs that you hadn't slept. Pulling your hair back tightly into a bun you sigh. 'No rest for the wicked, I guess. I have a lot to do today.' The coffee pot beeps twice letting you know that it's finished. Making yourself a cup, you wonder if you should have some breakfast or not. You started your training today so you didn't want to have a full stomach. You open up the cabinet again and grab a protein bar. 'This'll have to do.' 

You jump a little at the sound of your alarm again. 'I must've just snoozed it.' Grabbing your phone you shut it off and put it back into your drawer. You glance at the things from the DSO, 'do I need to bring my weapons today? They didn't say, did they?'. Thinking back they never specified what kind of training. You sigh and grab your pistol and knife and lay them on the bed. 'Better bring something just in case.' Changing, you grab your holsters from the closet but stop when you realize in normal life you can't walk out onto the streets with a pistol strapped in plain sight. Throwing your gun holster back you just keep out your knife holster.

Jack knocked just as you were filing up your thermos. "Ready to go kid?"

"Jack would you happen to know if I need to bring my weapons?"

He shrugs, "no clue."

You nod and grab the pistol and stuck it in the back of your pants. Grabbing the knife you decide to grab a waist holster for it. Putting that on you get a thin jacket from your closet and look quickly in the mirror to make sure it covered. Satisfied you grab your ID, debit card, and keys and walk up to Jack. "After you old man."

"Old man?" he asks indignitely.

"Yeah," you lock the door, "you called me kid."

"Because you are."

You purse your lips and look at him. "Exactly."

He rolls his eyes, "Drink your coffee. Apparently you're not a morning person."

Taking a small sip you wait for him to unlock the car, "I'm not sure if I'm an anytime person." He grins.

The ride over was quiet and just what you needed. You had your coffee and ate your protein bar while convincing yourself it was going to be a good day. 

When you were almost there, Jack's phone rings and presses a button on the steering wheel, "yeah?"

Miranda's voice filters through the car speakers. "Where are you?"

"About 5 minutes out," he says glancing at the time.

"I need you to bring Y/N to my office immediately."

"Copy."

She hangs up and you look over at Jack. "She didn't sound happy."

"She never does."

There goes your good morning. You frantically think back over the events yesterday. Maybe you did something wrong. Thankfully you didn't have much time to worry yourself before you got there.

Jack greeted everyone the same as yesterday and Tiffany gave you an excited wave when she saw you. You smile back at her as Jack led you to Miranda's office. He gives two short knocks and a man opens up the door and stands aside.

"Y/N" Miranda says as she's moving papers off her desk, "I trust your accomodations will suffice."

You eye the man who opened the door quickly as well as another sitting at Miranda's desk with a lab coat. You give a short nod, "yes thank you."

"Good have a seat." She looks over at Jack. "You're dismissed."

Jack nods and leaves. The man shuts the door behind him and locks it. He remains standing there. 

"Ok, let's get to it. You're training has been put on hold due to some unusual results in your bloodwork. We were hoping you would be able to shed some light on this." Miranda sits and looks at you patiently.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what you mean." You look over at the man seated beside you. He was an older guy, maybe in his 60s, white hair, and brown eyes. He had a pleasant face as he peered at you from above his glasses. 

"I'm Dr. Richter," he says in a thick German accent, "I had the pleasure of studying your results yesterday and I must say thank you for the most exciting night I've had in a while."

You had to rub your hand over your mouth to keep yourself from smiling at his choice of words. His excitement was endearing and almost reminded you of your mother when she found something new.

He quickly pulls out his tablet and places it in your hands. "Now watch," he says as he presses play on the screen. You weren't sure what you were really looking at but you recognized blood cells moving. "Look real closely here" he points to a spot on the screen.

Looking, you can see something moving. The video zooms in and you can make out several different looking shapes in that one spot. He pauses the video and you meet his eyes. He's beaming and waiting on you. You clear your throat, "I don't know what I'm looking at."

"They're viruses my dear." he exclaims.

"I'm sick?"

"No not at all! You're extremely healthy. Those aren't the flu. They're the T-virus!"

Your blood runs cold and you hear white noise. You knew about the T-virus and everyone heard of Raccoon City. Dr. Richter grabs the tablet from your hand and excitedly continues as if he was just talking about a recipe for a cake. You were working on breathing and slowing your heart rate when you heard your name. "What? I'm sorry?"

Dr. Richter huffs, "I said that they were very stripped almost infant viruses that don't contain the same genetic markers as the normal T viruses we've come across. What they do...we don't know yet and will require further testing."

"How long have you been infected?" Miranda asks sternly.

You look at her in a panic, "I don't know...I wasn't anywhere near Raccoon City or an outbreak. I just..." you trail off as realization hits you. Your mom. "Seven. I was seven years old."

Dr. Richter claps his hands in delight. Miranda gives him a withering look and he settles down. "Go on."

You recount what happened on that day, what you could remember and told them about the shot your mom gave you. "She said it was to keep me from getting sick. I...I didn't think much about it because of everything else that happened."

"When was the last time you were sick? Like a cold or a fever?" 

You look back at Dr. Richter. "It's been about six months ago. The flu had spread through the base and people were sick for weeks."

Dr. Richter nods, "you were sick for how long?"

"About a day. Well not even 24 hours."

Dr. Richter grabs your hand stretching out your arm. He points at the bend of your elbow, "look. You had blood drawn. There's no mark."

You pull back your arm and run your hand over where they drew blood. "I thought I just had a good immune system."

"You do my dear! Just not genetically." He looks to Miranda, "I believe that this infant version of the virus strengthens instead of breaks down like what saw with the outbreak. From my preliminary findings, the virus doesn't contain the genetic makeup to evolve so it stays in the infant state. In Y/N's case, it heals her to keep the host alive but can't do anything more." He presses play on the video again and shakes his head in awe. "Your mother's research was well ahead of her time."

You twist your hands nervously, "so I'm not going to turn into one of those things?"

"No, you would've done that a long time ago," he says watching the video come to an end. He sighs and turns the tablet off. "I'm going to need more samples."

Miranda nods and looks back at you. "Like I said earlier, your training will be put on hold until Dr. Richter has what he needs and gives you the clear."

You open your mouth to speak but the doctor interrupts. "No, she still trains today after I get my samples. My assistant can work on that while I can study the physical effects of the virus."

Miranda raises an eyebrow at him "...very well." Miranda nods over in the direction of the man that opened the door. "This is Agent Miller," she says as he come to stand beside her desk. "he will be your trainer until you are ready for the field." 

Miller was a well built man in his 30s you guessed. Green eyes sized you up as you took in his appearance: closely cropped brown hair, stubble for a beard, and arms as big as your thighs. 'One hit from him and I'm dead' you thought.

He didn't say anything in greeting and you didn't either. Looking at his eyes he was staring straight into yours. Unflinching you meet his stare. Just because he could probably snap you in two didn't mean you were going to let him see that. 

"Come my dear," Dr. Richter interrupted. "We've got work to do."

Tearing your eyes from Miller, you gave the doctor a nod. Miller opens the door for the both of you on your way out of the office. 'At least he's a gentleman now.' You doubted he would be anything but during training.

****************

After Dr. Richter got his samples you went straight into a training room further down where the offices were. It had never occured to you that these weren't the only floors. And true to what you thought earlier, Miller wasn't going to go easy on you. He started in hand to hand combat, which he landed quite a few shots, and moved onto knives. By lunch you were weak and sweating profusely, but Miller pushed on. And damn him, he wasn't even out of breath. Determined to show what you were worth, you took a chance at a small opening and lunged for him. He used your forward momentum to swing you around and bring his knife up to your neck. He held on tightly to keep you from going any further and slicing your throat on his blade. 

"Be patient and wait for your chance," he rumbles next to your ear. He releases you as you bring your hand up to your neck. Letting out a ragged breath you pull your fingers away seeing a small amount of blood on them. 

The doctor quickly gets up from his chair and rushes over to you. Checking your neck he presses a button on his watch. "Let's see how long it takes for you to heal."

You turn to look at Miller. He nods in a direction behind you. "Showers are over there. After you're done we'll go down and get lunch and continue."

You look down at yourself. Your clothes were almost soaked in sweat. "I didn't bring anything to change into."

"There's lockers next to the showers. You'll find some extra clothing there."

You nod and make your way to the showers. You made your shower quick since you doubted Miller would be patient enough to wait on a decent one. Pulling open the lockers revealed loads of mens clothing. Digging around you finally find a few womens shirts as well as some shorts. Crinkling your nose you realize that you would probably have to go commando unless you wanted to wear your sweaty sports bra and underwear. 

Sighing, you decided wearing nothing was better than wearing sweat soaked underwear and you grab a shirt and tank top from the locker. Thankfully the tank top was thick and offered some sort of support. 'Hopefully the cafeteria isn't too cold'. The shorts were a different story. There were only a couple of pairs and each one was those tiny exercise shorts. You grab the smallest mens shorts that you could find and they wouldn't stay on your hips. Putting back on the exercise shorts you take a glance in the mirror. They didn't leave anything to the imagination. Your ass was centimeters from hanging out. You debated on grabbing a men's shirt to cover up your backside but then it would look like you weren't wearing anything underneath. 'Guess this is it.' 

You close the locker and walked out back to Miller trying not to look self conscious about the lack of material covering up your bottom half. Miller had changed himself but it didn't look like he showered. 'Why would he? He might as well been sitting on the couch watching a movie.'

The doctor rushes back to you and checks your neck. He writes the time down on a clipboard. "It's already healed." You nod.

Miller thankfully showed no outward sign that there was something wrong with the way you were dressed. "Let's get some food." Nodding you follow him as the doctor disappears through an opposite door.

The cafeteria turned out to be two floors down and lucky you, it was freezing. You realize that the two shirts aren't doing much to hide the fact that you were cold but you couldn't cross your arms and grab food without looking odd. Thankfully you could at least have your back turned to the tables while you looked over the food. You chose to grab an apple and a sandwich. Again you didn't want anything too filling just in case you had more intensive training. Miller sits at a table in the back away from the other agents. Getting a water from a cooler, you tried to ignore all the covert looks that you were getting from the people already seated. Awkwardly you grab the water with your hand carrying the apple and shut the cooler door with your hip. Turning slightly while trying to keep your back turned, you try to decide if you should sit by yourself since Miller had positioned himself in such a way that it seemed like he didn't want company.

You start to hear whispers from the closest table next to you wondering who you were. "That's the new agent, Y/N something. I heard she was picked by the president." There was a silent moment before another one spoke. "She doesn't look like much."

You furrow your brows. You weren't rail thin. You had muscle and curves. How dare him? You beat out the majority of the other troops. You may not have been the fastest or strongest of them, but you outlasted every damn one of them.

Turning back to the table you go to grab some napkins when you feel your water being pulled away from your hand. Miller grabs your food and sets it down. Pulling off his jacket, he helps you into it. You sigh in relief. He pushes at the small of your back toward his table as you're zipping it up. As you sit, he places your food down in front of you. He settles in his chair beside you.

"Thank you for that" you murmur.

He nods in acknowledgement and goes back to eating without a word. You begin eating yourself in comfortable silence. As small as the gesture was, Miller had saved you from an embarrassing situation that you didn't know how to handle. Looking at him under your lashes, you take a bite of sandwich and quickly look back down as you see his eyes shoot over to you. "You should probably bring spare clothes next time."

You felt your face flame up from embarassment. "Yeah" you say as you shift uncomfortably in your seat. You can feel the majority of your butt against the cold chair. 'I definitely should.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you this was going to be long. Think of it as a slow burn. I promise it'll pick up soon and you'll finally be meeting the man who will ruin your life ;) lol.


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the day was easy compared to your morning. After lunch you had firearms training in which Miller used to gauge how skilled you were at various weapons. Shooting a dummy target was a piece of cake, something you had been doing for years. The sniper was your favorite weapon and when Miller brought you to an indoor range close to the bottom floor, you were almost bouncing with glee. He kept setting the targets out and you kept hitting them dead center. You missed once as he started on moving targets, if you could call it a miss, as you hit it in the center of the chest instead of the head. When Miller called it quits, you gave him a beaming smile. You could've sworn you saw a twinkle in his eye but it was hard to tell on his stoic expression.

Months passed on the same way as before. Miller got a bit more chatty, however he was still quiet most of the time. You didn't mind though, you were fairly quiet yourself. You did less weapons training and focused mainly on hand to hand combat. Miller felt like your skills there were lacking and it was true, especially against him. For his size, he moved quickly. Not mention those tree trunks for arms. You had left yourself wide open one day during a sparring lesson that he took full advantage of. You were knocked out and woke up in the lab. No concussion, however they had to replace four of your teeth. You were given a painkiller and pushed right back at it. Miller pushed you until you couldn't stand and kept going. You had never been so sore in your life. Bruises showed on top of bruises and you wondered if that virus inside you had died trying to keep up.

But that one glorious day. You were sparring with Miller and it was particularly grueling. He landed some really good hits on you and you were exhausted. Every breath taken was painful due to some cracked ribs from the day before that hadn't quite healed. Knowing this, Miller used it to his advantage. 

"Again!" He called out to you as you try to catch your breath. Through will alone you take a weak stance. Miller shakes his head in disappointment but takes a stance as well. Seeing him do that made something in you snap. You were instantly pissed off. He had a good 7 inches of height on you and probably close to double your weight, not to mention his reach was longer. You thought you were doing fairly well to be so mismatched but you knew things like this would probably happen out on the field. But damn him you were trying your best here.

Miller attacked and you dodged the best you could not going on the offense. You waited. Finally after a few more punches, you had your chance. Miller stepped into a left hook thrown at your head. You grabbed his wrist with both hands and used every bit of your strength and his momentum to flip him over you. You flipped with him and once you felt both of you hit the ground you quickly forced your elbow back. You felt and heard the crack before you rolled off of him. 

Panting you lay there on the cool concrete facing him. Miller turned his head to you still laying there. You had broken his nose and blood was streaming from it onto the floor. Spitting some out of his mouth he turned back to you and gave you a full on smile. It was like seeing the sun after weeks of rain. "That's my girl" he says with pride in his voice.

You weakly chuckle, "we done?"

Miller shakes his head, "yeah we're done."

Lunch that day was full of agents, more than you had seen since you've been there. Miller got a lot of whispers and stares. You grin at his bandaged face. He gives you a knowing smile and straightens his back. You almost felt like he was wearing it as a badge of honor on your behalf. Or maybe that was just what you wanted to believe. Either way you were proud. 

Ever since then you were landing more and more shots. Each day you were finally getting better instead of having to visit the lab several times. Dr. Richter had completed his research on your virus and couldn't replicate the results. His initial assumptions were correct in that the virus healed you and nothing more. He tried to inject the virus into other animals in the lab but the infant viruses died out within hours. He kept some samples of your blood just in case but he resigned himself to a one in a million chance that the virus would take and survive in the new host.

You were almost four months into training when Miller deemed you ready enough to start simulated field training. You were a little bummed that you weren't completing this nearly as quick as the other agent but it could be worse. You could've failed out of it altogether. 

Meeting Hunnigan was exciting since you were moving on to the next phase. She was a true professional in every sense and she guided you through your simulations with ease. The DSO threw every possible bad scenario that they could think of from compromised identity to jammed radio to even rogue agents. You were captured, tortured, and once hunted for days by dogs and troops. You had to learn to escape and survive. Even knowing that these were just tests and they wouldn't actually kill you, it didn't make the situation any better. You still felt fear, the pain of being beaten, and suffered through days without food or water to escape on what turned out to be a 15 mile hike to extraction. Hunnigan wasn't always in contact but she had saved you on several occasions.

A few months later it was fall, your favorite season, not to mention your upcoming birthday. Robert wasn't a holiday tradition type of guy but he always made sure he went out of his way to make a big deal over your birthday. While the birthday parties stopped when you were older, he still spent the entire day with you doing the most ridiculous things. You missed him. With this in mind you waited until the end of the day.

You had a short day today. No field testing, just some procedure crap that you didn't really pay attention on. Apparently you were expected to give a report after assignments. You weren't an English major by no means. You listened somewhat as Miller's voice explained proper protocol on what needed to be in the report and how quickly it needed to be sent to your superiors. You almost wished you were back in the interrogation room where you were being beaten for information. Miller's fist harshly hits the table in front of you. "Am I wasting my breath here?"

"You tell me," you reply boredly.

Miller takes on a stern look, "this is important."

"Even you don't believe that." Miller presses his lips in a thin line. "I'm sorry ok? I know this is important. A retirement plan is important too but that doesn't mean that I'm going to find it fascinating."

He leans back into his chair and crosses his arms. "What's going on? You've been....restless."

You blow out a breath, "I wouldn't know where to begin and you wouldn't want to hear it."

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."

That was true. Miller was efficient in every part of his life. If it needed to be done, he did it. If he wanted answers, he asked. Otherwise he went about his day. 

You guessed if he really wanted to know... "I haven't had a day of rest since I got here, I'm progressing slower than the other agent did who was in my same situation and that pisses me off. Speaking of, shouldn't I be training with my partner at some point? I'm beginning to think of the sun as a once a month experience since I'm mainly stuck inside other than field tests, and..." you take a breath, "...the coffee here sucks."

A small smile plays with the corner of his lips, "I forget sometimes that you're only 19."

"Almost 20," you mumble but he hears you anyway.

"When is it?"

"A couple of days from now." You twist your hands nervously. "Miller...do you think...maybe..."

He huffs, "spit it out."

"Well I was hoping that maybe I could go see my dad...for my birthday."

He studies your face for a moment, "your adopted dad?"

"Yeah, Robert."

He makes a noncommittal noise. "You start training with a partner next week. He's been on assignments or you would've started sooner. As far as the other agent, the situation was completely different. He was pushed out onto the field much earlier, he wasn't ready. But at the time it had to be done. I wouldn't compare yourself to him if I were you. You'll be much more prepared. And the coffee here is terrible."

You give him a halfhearted smile as he sighs, "As far as seeing your father, it's rare that any of our agents have close family members if any at all. And as you said, you have been here every day since you arrived. I would say that you would have to clear it with Miranda. However, I'm going to clear it." You look up at him in surprise. "Two days only. As a civilian. You use your alias as you travel."

You sit there stunned. "If I have to clear it with Miranda, I don't mind."

He gives you a hard look. 'She wouldn't clear it, that's why he's doing it.' You take a deep breath, "I don't have to go Miller, I don't want you getting in trouble."

He tsks, "what will she do? Fire me?" You have no idea what kind of look you have on your face but Miller's eyes soften. "We all had family once. See them when you can."

Before you even thought about it, you had pushed yourself out of your chair and over the table to wrap your arms around Miller. You saw a brief flash of confusion on his face before burying your face into his shoulder. "Thank you," you whisper. 

You feel his arm tentatively come around you to return the hug. Lingering just a bit you realize that this is the only time you ever touched him without trying to hit him. You chuckle a bit pulling away.

Miller still looks a bit shocked at your affection. "I was just thinking that this is the first time we've touched each other without trying to hit one another." You shake your head. "We have a fucked up job."

"Yeah we do," he says standing and putting distance in between you. "You're done for the day. I don't care if you leave tonight or tomorrow, just be back here Sunday. And I expect you to be ready to go at 0500 Monday."

You give him a beaming smile. "Yes sir," you say leaving the room. Miller remains standing for a while after you go.

*******

You decide on against telling Robert that you were coming. Instead you called Chris who was more than happy to pick you up from the airport. Travelling as Alyssa wasn't as weird as you thought it would be. The weirdest part was not having your weapons. You decided on taking your DSO phone with you just in case you were called to come back. You were sure Miller could handle Miranda, but she might pull rank or whatever and make you come back. 

You found a flight out that night at 0100 that you decided to take. You knew you were going to be tired but it's not like you went without sleep before. Chris would be picking you up at 0400 when the plane landed. 

To your surprise, you fell asleep on the flight and awoke to the rustle of bags when everyone was getting off. You run your fingers through your hair trying to smooth down the strands you knew were sticking up. You rarely wore your hair down and you realized you were way past due for a haircut. Grabbing your carry on, you make your way off the plane and past the gates. 

Turning on your phone you call Chris. "Where are you?"

You laugh, "no hello? Where are you?"

"By baggage claim."

You quickly scan the area as your training kicks in. Always look for escapes and be aware of the people around you. You hang up as you spot him seconds later. You see him check his phone screen and put it away. He turns around looking for you. You almost stop walking when he turns around. 'Oh wow.' Chris had bulked up immensely during the time you've been gone. He was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt that did nothing but accentuate his muscles. You weren't that keen on facial hair but his shadow of a beard looked really good on him. You see Chris's smile when he spots you and his long legs carry him towards you. Your mouth goes dry at his commanding walk. 'What the hell Y/N?! Pull yourself together! He's just your friend.'

Chris wastes no time in grabbing you and picking you up. He grabs one of your legs forcing you to put them around him. You laugh above him. Leave it to Chris to make a scene. "Chris put me down!"

He chuckles in response but sets you down anyway. Holding you at arms length he looks you over. "You look leaner."

You flex your arm. "Not nearly as much as you."

He laughs as he takes your bag and throws it around himself. Putting his arm around you, he starts to lead you out. You pass by a group of girls that are checking Chris out and not even being subtle about it. You smile and tap him lightly on the chest with the back of your hand. "You got fans," you say trying not to think about the rock solid chest you just hit.

"Isn't that nice," he says without even looking over. 

You shake your head. 'Heaven help the girl who falls for him'.

Once out on the road, Chris decides that having the top out on the jeep was a good idea. It was about 60° out, with the sun barely shining and your thin jacket wasn't helping. You blast the heat on as Chris looks sideways at you, "wimp."

"Screw you Redfield."

He laughs as he takes a turn down the highway to bring you back to the base. You sit in silence for a bit enjoying the familiar scenery.

"You seem different," Chris yells over the sound of the wind.

You frown at him. "What do you mean?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. Just something about you. Like you're more....settled? More of in control of who you are?"

You smile at him, "Isn't that called maturing?"

He gives you a withering glance before looking back at the road. "No it's not that. I don't know how to explain it." Chris turns off the highway onto the long road that leads to the base. "Seriously though, something's changed about you. What did they do to you there?"

You thought about the past six months. It felt like forever. 'What did they do? Any and everything. Beat me, starved me, cut me up, ran tests on me.' You clear your throat. "They trained me."

You look over at Chris staring at you. "How?"

You smile, "how what?" You knew what he was asking but you were stalling. You couldn't very well tell Chris about what they put you through.

"How did they train you?" 

Chris had that look on his face that he gets when he knows he's going to get bad news. You sigh, "that's classified."

"That's a bullshit response, Y/N."

Is he really going to get angry about this? "I know it is but the simple truth is that I work for the DSO and you for the BSAA. What they do and don't do as far as my training goes doesn't concern you. They did what they had to do to make sure I stay alive on assignments. Period."

"So they hurt you?" 

You rub your eyes. "Are we doing this? I came here to see you and Robert for my birthday. Not to fight about my choice of profession and your overwhelming need to protect everyone around you."

Chris doesn't say a word as you are waved through security at the base. He pulls up by the offices and grabs your bag out of the back. Handing it to you, he turns and gets back in the jeep. "Chris..." you start but he's already put it into gear and driving off.

You huff. 'Men.' 

Determined not to let his bad mood upset you, you go into the offices to see Robert. You find him seated at his desk with a stack of paperwork. He's tapping his pen against a smaller stack lost in thought.

You cross your arms, "you better clear your schedule old man. You have a birthday girl to attend to."

Robert jumps at the sound of your voice. "Ace!' he says coming to grab you in a hug. "How long have you been there?"

You return his hug strongly, "just walked up."

He places a lingering kiss on top of your head. "Missed you."

You sigh into his chest. You haven't had the time to keep in touch as much as you wanted. "Missed you too."

He pulls away grinning at you, "you look different."

You scoff, "I swear, between you and Chris...I was only gone for 6 months. I can't change that much."

"Chris?"

"Yeah he picked me up from the airport. Well technically he picked Alyssa Carter up from the airport." He gives you a questioning look. "My alias."

"Ah" he says still studying you. "You're ok?"

You knew he was asking about your time at the DSO. "Yeah...Chris isn't too happy about it and he dropped me off here and left. I know he's just being protective."

Robert rubs your arms up and down, "he'll get over it. I'm sure they did what was best for you."

You huff in exasperation, "see?! That's the correct answer. Not getting pissy cause of.." you wave your hand around trying to find the right words.

"...cause he cares about you and doesn't want you hurt?"

You narrow your eyes at Robert. "So do you."

"Yes Ace. But unlike Chris I'm aware the DSO works off the books. I know what type of training they conduct. If I didn't think you could handle it, I wouldn't have told you about it in the first place." Robert leans back against his desk crossing his arms. "Plus I've got a good 30 years on the boy. Even though I don't like the thought of it, I know whatever you went through was necessary. I'm mature."

You snort, "of course you are."

Robert laughs as he pushes his papers to the side. "How long are you staying?"

You make a face, "just today. I've got to fly back tomorrow morning. I start training with my partner Monday."

"Well then, I guess I'm doing paperwork on a Sunday." He grabs his keys from his desk drawer. "Got anything in mind?"

You smile. "I heard the fair's in town."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who???

Your time with Robert was just what you needed to recharge. You had breakfast, went and did some much needed shopping for clothes since it seemed like the DSO was good for ruining yours, and that night you went to the fair. You and Robert both had a competitive streak a mile long so when it came to fair games, you couldn't resist goading him on. The both of you made your way around the fair stopping at almost every game they offered. You guys had won so many prizes that you were giving them away to the kids that passed by. 

You ended up keeping two prizes. One that Robert chose and handed to you after beating you soundly. It was a tiny purple bird with feathers attached to just the wings. You held it up between you and gave him a what the hell look.

Robert grins, "it's to remind you that you lost to me."

You glance at the prize in your hands, "why a bird?"

Robert's smile became wider, "Because I know that losing ruffles your feathers."

Taking a deep breath, you shut your eyes at his joke and resist the urge to deck him. He laughs loudly pleased with himself as he leads to you a different booth.

The other prize was an absolutely ridiculous stuffed t-rex complete with a tactical camo vest, war paint, and a tiny gun. You instantly thought of Chris and even though he was mad at you, you had to get it for him. You put it next to his door that night.

You flew back the next morning and decided to take the rest of the day to do nothing. Well at least you tried to do nothing. You flipped through channels on the tv for about 15 mins and shut it off. Looking around, the apartment was still clean, you still had groceries, there were no books to read. Sighing to yourself you wonder if something was wrong with you that you couldn't seem to sit still for very long. Changing into more weather appropriate clothes, you decide to take a walk around your area. You did live in the entertainment district. 

It was busy. People were taking advantage of the good weather and piled into the streets. Vendors seemed to also take advantage of the situation. People were playing instruments, there were some just dancing, and on every corner there was food and drinks. You had stopped and watch a guy paint a comissioned piece for a lady standing beside you. He worked quickly with spraypaint painting the city at night. It was beautiful and you marvelled at his talent. Strolling by some stores you stop as a display caught your eye. In the window was a gorgeous creme/peach dress. It was made out of type of silk material and wrapped around the shoulders and crossed in the front before becoming one fabric that made the full length skirt. It showed quite a bit of skin in the front and normally you didn't go for things like that but it was just so pretty. You debating on buying it but you wore a dress once in your life and nothing nearly as fancy as this one. Passing it by, you were almost sad about not getting it but on what occasion would you wear it? Sighing you decide to head home since it was starting to get dark.

*******  
The next day you awoke to Miranda calling you into her office. You thought she was going to berate you for going to see your dad, but she never brought it up. She asked some general questions about your training and told you that Dr. Richter was still trying to replicate your virus without much success. He wanted more blood samples. You complied and then made your way to the training room where you always met Miller. 

Opening the door, Miller stood on the far side of the room talking to another man. Hearing the door close, Miller turned to look your direction to see you walking toward them. "It's about time."

You wave your hand in dismissal, "Don't get pissy, Miranda had to tell me that Dr. Richter needed more of my blood. Take it up with them, since they're the reason I'm late."

You finally turn your attention to the man standing with Miller. And good lord, did he have your attention. He was a good five inches taller, longer blonde hair, blue eyes, with broad shoulders. He wasn't nearly as big as Chris or Miller but he was put together well.

Apparently you were staring, as Miller clears his throat. "Y/N, this is your partner."

'Shit.' You force yourself to put your hand out towards him. "Y/N L/N, nice to meet you."

He takes your offered hand, "Leon Scott Kennedy."

His voice felt like it just washed over you bringing goosebumps. You silently berate yourself. 'What are you, some kind of chick in a rom-com? Let go of his hand, you're making it weird.' You pull your hand away rather quickly. Tearing your eyes away from him, cause what the hell he's still looking at you, you make eye contact with Miller. He's got a concerned frown but quickly schools his expression back to neutral.

"Agent Kennedy has been with us for a while now. He was also picked by the president." Robert says crossing his arms.

Your eyes widen, 'my partner is the best agent here? This is the guy that I was trying to beat?' You clear your throat, "I hear you're the best of the best."

Leon looks at Miller and back at you, "that might be subjective but I haven't died yet so I've got that going for me."

Miller grunts in agreement, "today you'll be sparring some. But generally you two will get to know each other." You glance over at Leon. "The DSO has high hopes for the two of you so they're taking extra precautions to make sure you work well together. Having a partner means being responsible for one another and to do so you need to be able to communicate well both verbally and instinctively." 

Leon meets your eyes. "What's your favorite color?" he asks seriously.

You laugh. Miller sighs, "I had a feeling you would get along."

"Gray." You pretended think. "What's your favorite animal?"

"Sea urchins."

Miller rolls his eyes. "Later. You'll get to know each other later. Right now, you're going to throw some punches."

Leon smiles a bit as he removes his jacket and pushes up his sleeves. You can feel your heart rate increase, 'good lord how am I supposed to do this?'

Leon turns back to you with a small smile, "ready?"

No was your initial gut reaction. "Yes, you?"

Leon doesn't reply as he gets into a fighting stance. You take a stance as well. The both of you spend a few minutes taking halfhearted swings to gauge each others preference for fighting and styles. Leon quickly switched gears and throws a left handed punch to which you dodge. 'He thinks he's special.' You reply with a left handed swing as well that he blocks. You smirk at the twinkle in his eyes. 'You're not the only one ambidextrous.' 

Leon backs away a bit to take a traditional TaeKwonDo stance. While you weren't technically trained in TaeKwonDo you were trained in a form of Jui-Jitsu and Krav Maga, a self defense martial art. You take a stance as well. If Leon didn't recognize it, he made no outward sign. Circling you, you waited for him to strike. When he did you quickly deflected his punches. Leon never got frustrated, he took his time to read you. He got a good shot in when you went to deflect another punch but mid swing he threw a punch with his other hand to your exposed stomach. The wind got knocked out of you. That was on you. 

This continued for some time where you both had only got a few good hits on one another. After a while you finally caught him. Leon left himself open enough that you flipped and grabbed him with your legs to throw him down and away from you. Once you released him to hit the ground you roll and stretch your left leg out with your heel coming down towards his face. You stop inches from hitting him.

"Good!" Miller says as he calls a stop. You beam at his praise.

You and Leon get up at the same time. Leon's smiling as he raises an eyebrow. "Jui-Jitsu?"

You nod, "sort of. More of a blend of that and MMA."

"What was your defensive training?"

'So he didn't know,' you think. "Krav Maga."

Leon's eyebrows raise, "Israeli military?"

You smile, "my martial arts teacher growing up was Israeli."

Leon looks mildly impressed. You're staring again but you couldn't help it. Leon was breathing heavy as were you, and he had a faint flush to his face. 

You tear your eyes away when Miller clears his throat. "I'll leave you two at it. You're done for the day. The rest of this week will be spent off duty and next Monday you'll go on field runs with Hunnigan." 

Leon gives a short nod. "So..." he smoothly says grabbing his jacket, "your place or mine?"

You failed miserably at keeping the blushing from your cheeks, "oh uh...yours I guess?"

Leon laughs a bit at your embarrassment, while you could see Miller giving Leon an ice cold glare. "Agent Kennedy...a word." Miller wasn't asking.

Leon straightens in seriousness as he turns and faces Miller. You shift a bit at Miller's tone. He's never used that with you. "I'll uh, just wait in the lobby then." You leave without waiting for a reply. Years at the BSAA taught you when testosterone gets thrown around, it's best to just leave and come back at a later point.

Tiffany spots you as soon as you walk into the lobby and starts talking a mile a minute about a new puppy she just adopted. You feel your eyes glaze over as you wonder if she ever took a breath. Interrupting her you ask, "do you drink coffee?" 

"Oh my gosh, no! I tried it once and it made my heart race. Actually my mom told me that coffee will stunt your growth and since I'm so short I told her that she must've drank coffee during her pregnancy because she's taller than me. Everyone in my family is. My father's side, everyone is over 6ft, even the women. Well except for aunt Jessica but she hardly counts cause she married into the family. But all of their kids are over 6ft and one of them is just 15 or 16 now I can't remember. But can you believe that? It seems like kids these days are getting taller and bigger. Before you know it the generation after them are going to be close to 7ft at the rate we're going."

You hear a door shut and you turn to see Leon coming towards you with frown. When he looks up, he looks straight at you before his eyes shoot quickly over at Tiffany who was still talking. You mouth 'help me' to him. He shakes his head and stops walking. You narrow your eyes. No way was he going to let you stay there. Leon silently laughs to himself before walking up next to you.

Tiffany's still talking and has her back turned to where Leon was now leaning on the counter of her desk. "How are you today, Tiffany?" he asks in that smooth voice of his.

Tiffany lets out a yelp of surprise and turns around. "Good lord Leon! Don't do that to me! I could have a heart attack." She presses her hands to the sides of her face. "At my age anything can happen."

"Your age? You don't look a day over 32 max," Leon gives her a charming smile.

"Stop. I'm old enough to be your mother," she protests but her pink cheeks give her away.

You sigh inwardly. 'Same.'

Leon chuckles, "we've gotta get going. But it's good to see you."

Tiffany starts busying herself with the papers on her desk, "you too Leon."

Leon grabs the door as you walk out and you catch Tiffany staring as the both of you left. You try to hide the smile threatening to break. 'Really. Same.'

"What?"

You look over at Leon, "what? I didn't say anything."

"I know, but you were smiling."

'Dammit. I'm really going to have to work on my poker face.' "Nothing, Tiffany's sweet."

"She's..." Leon pauses to find the right word, "...friendly."

"She thinks you're cute even though she could be your mother."

Leon gives you a surprised look, "think I've got a shot?"

You laugh, "she might even pay you."

"I do like getting paid," Leon says seriously.

You were almost outside when you start digging into your pocket for your phone.

Leon stops and looks at you, "what are you doing?"

"Calling Jack" you say as you wait for the phone to turn on, "I don't have a car."

"Put that away" Leon says starting to walk away from you. "I've got you."

You internally shrug and follow him putting your phone away.

What Leon had, was a beautiful gunmetal gray Ducati parked over in the shade close to the building. Leon started it up and held out a helmet towards you. You clench your teeth to keep from drooling and yet again cursed yourself for being so girly. "Where's your helmet?"

He shrugs as you're climbing on behind him. "Your safety comes first." You try to sit comfortably on the small seat while still giving Leon some space to where you weren't pushed up against him. Somewhat situated but not exactly you grab on the back of the seat. 

Leon half turns and looks at you over his shoulder. "You might want to scoot up. I wouldn't want you to fall off." 

You shake your head now that you had the helmet on. "I'm fine here."

Grabbing the bend of your knee he pulls, sliding you down until you bump against him. You blush wildly as you're now pretty much straddling his butt. "Don't be shy. I don't bite unless you ask." You could choke on embarrassment. "You're going to want to hang on. We're taking the long way," he says reaching blindly behind him.

Confused you put your hand in his and he brings your arm low around his waist. 'I'm basically his backpack now.' Leon pats your hand letting you know to keep it there and takes off. 

He takes it somewhat slow until he comes to a long stretch of straight road. Being outside the city and midday while people are at work, there wasn't any cars out. He comes to a stop close to the side of the road. Turning slightly he yells over the sound of the engine, "do you get nervous when other people drive?"

"No not normally, why?" you yell back.

"Cause you're going to have to hang on tight," he says revving the bike. You barely reacted in time as Leon popped the bike up on one wheel speeding off. 

Your heart in your throat you laugh as you hang onto him for dear life. When he finally brings the bike down, you lay your head against his back in exhilaration. "Oh my god Leon! If you didn't want a partner you could've just said so!"

Leon laughs and pats your leg in response.

You spent the ride to his house in a mix between marveling at the city and trying not to run your fingers across Leon's stomach. You kept both arms around him somewhat loosely after that stunt he pulled. And you were almost positive that the tip of your index finger was resting in the indention of his abs. The whole ride you were pressed up against him feeling every shift of his hard muscles as he kept the bike upright. Not to mentioned he smelled of fresh laundry and some type of earthy tone that you couldn't quite put your finger on. It was enough to make you sweat.

It was a bittersweet relief to finally make it there. Taking your helmet off you press your cold fingers to your heated face. "That was so much fun" you say not trying to hide your excitement. Hopefully he'll see your blush as a result of the ride and not because you just spent almost an hour trying not to feel him up.

Leon laughs, "glad you liked it." 

Leon's place looked like it hadn't been touched since the DSO office first set him up in it. Looking around you set your keys and phone down on the kitchen island. "Are you sure you live here?"

Leon smiles, "I don't decorate much."

'At all you mean' you think to yourself. Leon goes over to the fridge and grabs a couple of beers. Opening them both he sets one beside you, "what if I don't drink beer?"

You watch as Leon's throat works to swallow his beer. "Then I'm not sure I can trust you as my partner."

You laugh and take a drink. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bitter as you thought it would be. "I'm not old enough to drink."

Leon chokes and peers at you, "how old are you?"

"Just turned 20 yesterday."

Leon blows out a breath. "Geez I thought you were going to say 16 or something."

"You're still supplying alcohol to a minor."

Leon gives you a withering look, "seeing how I'm forced to murder people on occassion, I think giving alcohol to a minor is low on my list of threats."

You lean against the kitchen island, "Alyssa's not a minor though."

He raises a brow, "your alias?"

"Yep" you say smacking your lips on the 'p'. "Alyssa Carter."

"Tyler Smith."

Feeling a bit bold you smile sweetly at him, "agent kennedy sounds much better."

Taking another drink of his beer he lets nothing show on his face at your remark. "Hungry?"

"Yeah actually," you look at your watch.

"I know a good taco place."

"I've gotta get on the death bike again huh?"

Leon smiles, "sure do."

*********

You thought you were going to eat at the taco place. But it was just a food truck parked on the side of a road. Leon makes you hold the bag of tacos while he drives outside of the city. It took maybe 10 mins since his apartment building was close to the outskirts. Pulling off a part of the road, he places the bike in park and helps you off. Looking around you see as he silently nods in a direction and you follow. "Here we are" he says as he sits down at the trunk of a tree.

Leon had found a spot close to a cliff edge that overlooked the city. He pats the ground beside him and you sit. Leon's digging tacos out of the bag as you look at your view. "It's actually really pretty."

He hands you a couple of tacos, "how'd you end up at the DSO?"

You sigh unwrapping a taco, "well my parents died, I began training in the BSAA, after I took my final test the president called my commander and said he wanted me. You?"

"My parents died too. I had joined the police academy, got in, first day, boom, Raccoon City outbreak."

You let out a low whistle, "you were one of the survivors."

He nods while chewing. "Somehow escaped and now if I get bitten I can't turn."

"That's some superpower. My mom was a researcher and injected me with the T-virus."

Leon raises his brow at you, "I know a girl like that."

You nod, "I heard some whispers about that. Apparently mine heals me but can't evolve in the part that makes you a monster. Dr. Richter has been taking samples to replicate. So far the viruses have died in the new host."

"Guess we both have superpowers huh?"

You smile at him while devouring your tacos. Leon wordlessly hands you more. You reach over him and grab the water out of the bag and hand him one. He nods back in thanks.

You take a moment to realize that your conversation would sound crazy to anyone else. You definitely lead a strange life. The conversation dies as you both focused on eating. Leon tried to hand you a fourth but you wave it off. You couldn't possibly have another one. He shrugs and eats it himself. "Where do you put all that food?"

Leon smiles with a mouth full of tacos and pats his stomach.

You scoff, "yeah but still. You ate...what...7 tacos?"

"I'm a growing boy."

You rolls your eyes, "I'd be bloated and at least 15 pounds heavier, but noooo... you're a guy and you still stay fit with a rock hard stomach."

Leon takes a drink of water to wash the taco down. "You been feeling me up?"

"You-You made me!" you sputter. "You and that stupid bike!"

Leon laughs, "My bike's not stupid."

"I swear I'm calling Miller in the morning and requesting a new partner."

"Yeah he'd replace me in a heartbeat," he deadpans.

"Oh yeah what did he say to you anyway?"

"That's classified."

"That's bullshit." Leon grins at you and you smack him lightly on the shoulder, "come on. We're supposed to be partners. Where's the trust?"

"I'm not Miller's favorite person ever. He's very...by the books, and I'm very....not," he finishes lamely.

"So?"

"So apparently he's become very protective over you. He made sure to let me know that if anything should happen to you, I wouldn't like the outcome."

You snort, "protective? Miller knocked me out cold and I had to have four false teeth put in. He almost slit my throat the first day I met him. Hell he tortured me for hours once during training and dug a knife into my thigh."

Leon gasped, "it seems like he might love you."

"Are you always this much of a smartass?"

"No...I'm off my game today. I'm usually much more of a smartass than this."

"I will deck you."

Leon nods, "I don't doubt it."

You sigh, you weren't getting anywhere with this guy. "Anyway...what are we supposed to do for the rest of this week?"

"Find out each others hope and dreams?" You raise your fist while Leon fakes dodging you. "No we talk, a lot apparently. We'll figure it out."

"Haven't you had a partner before?"

Leon shakes his head, "no never." A smile slowly creeps across your face. "What?" he asks.

"So what you're saying is...I'm the one who popped your cherry?"

Leon gives a genuine, head thrown back, laugh. You smile happily beside him. "Yes...yes you did. And I'm the one who bought you dinner."

You shrug, "what can I say? I've got game."

"Well I should probably take you home before you take even more advantage of me," he says grinning at you.

"You scared Leon?"

"Yeah a little."

You laugh, "come on then. You look like you need some beauty sleep."

He grabs the trash up. "Yeah if I don't get a solid 3 hours, I'm just terrible the rest of the day."

You start on the short walk to the bike and climb on. "Is it safe to give you my address? Are you going to be creeping up on me at all hours of the night?"

"No, watching people sleep is boring." He stands the bike up and starts it, "but I will be there in the morning." You scoff. "Try to not molest me too much this time," he says taking off.

Looking up to the sky, you wonder what the hell you got yourself into.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure you've noticed, but if you haven't by now, I am messing with the RE timeline a bit as well as taking some liberties with the viruses as well as my portrayal of Leon. I'm assuming he was a bit more carefree in his early career. So just roll with me on this. :)

You shoot straight up in panic then confusion. Glancing down you realize that you're still in bed. You wait and listen for any sort noise before reaching over and grabbing your phone to check the time. 04:36. 'What? What woke me up?' After a moment you shrug it off, and lay back down. *knock knock knock* 'What the hell? Who's here at....that better not be Leon.' Throwing the covers angrily off you, you make your way toward the door.

Pulling it open, you were greeted by Leon standing there with coffee and a small brown bag. He was already dressed for the day and the smell of fresh laundry detergent and his cologne invaded your space as he pushed past you to set his stuff down. Looking over you, Leon hands you a coffee without saying a word. Pressing the warm beverage into your hands you sigh and have a seat on the stool next to the kitchen counter. You take a few sips with your eyes closed. It slowly occurs to you that Leon's here all dressed and ready while you're barely dressed in tiny shorts and a tank top. You're sure your hair was an absolute mess since you almost always slept with it down. Cracking an eye open you could see some of your ends bunched up around each other. Yep, you were cute. You cared but at this hour you didn't care enough to do anything about it. 

Fully opening your eyes you look at Leon who's standing on the other side of your counter looking over your apartment. You watch him study the various parts he could see, like he was assessing escape routes. After a moment, he blinks and looks down at you. You study his eyes a bit and you could see them go soft. Turning Leon opens a few cabinets and finally finds what he's searching for, coffee. As he's starting to make some more, you slip into the bathroom. 

Once relieved, you give yourself a quick check into the mirror, 'oh good god.' Your hair was everywhere. You smoothed as much as you could down and wiped the sleep from your eyes. Leon was refilling your cup as you walked back. Setting it down beside your seat he pulls a bagel out of the brown bag and sets it beside you. You eye the bagel and pick up your coffee. It smelled good but you weren't hungry. You just focused on your coffee and let its warmth move through you.

"Is it ok to speak now?" Leon whispers.

"You could've spoke when you came in," you say before taking another sip.

Leon smiles gently, "you opened the door with murder in your eyes. I wasn't going to anger the beast."

You gave him a withering look, "I could've answered it with my gun."

He makes a face as if saying true. "What do you want to do today?"

"Coffee. Ask me again after 5." You shiver and go to your bedroom to grab a hoodie out of your closet. Turning, you jump a little to find Leon standing in the doorway. You didn't hear him follow you. You put the hoodie on watching him look around. "What's up?"

"It doesn't look like you've decorated either."

"It's not like they've let me have the time." Leon looked almost out of place in your room. Everything was light, airy colors and he was dressed in dark washed jeans and a hunter green henley under his black motorcycle jacket. Plus he was big. It felt like he took up a lot of space in your apartment. Or maybe your apartment was just smaller than his. You see his eyes land on your nightstand and a small smile played at the corner of his lips. You follow his movements as he walks past you to pick up the stuffed animal that Robert had gotten you. 

"I didn't take you as a stuffed animal type."

"I went to see my dad this past Saturday."

Leon gives you a questioning look, "you said your parents died."

You nod, "my adopted dad. He was a friend of the family's and actually trained my father. After they passed, he officially adopted me. Robert was my commander in the BSAA as well."

"That must've been....difficult."

You weren't sure if he was talking about your parents or Robert being your commander. You went with the latter. "He was harder on me then the rest. I guess he had to be. You don't want favoritism. Plus being a girl in the BSAA...he wanted me to make it through...I wanted me to make it through." Leon nods as he sets the bird back down. "He won it for me at the fair at one of those shooting...game booth...things. He handed it to me saying that he knew losing to him ruffles my feathers. We can get a bit competitive."

Leon laughs, "thats such a lame joke."

"Yeah," you shake your head fondly, "he's a fan of lame jokes and terrible puns."

Leon looks at his watch, "so what do you want to do today?"

You let out a groan and walk back into the kitchen. "Finish my coffee first and then probably a shower."

Leon sighs, "you're being difficult."

You shrug, "sounds like a personal problem to me."

Leon rolls his eyes and starts eating a bagel thoughtfully. You push the one he gave to you back to him. "You don't like bagels?" he asks.

"No I'm just not hungry, but thank for getting me one anyway."

The next couple of minutes pass in silence as you finish off your coffee. Leon makes his way to your couch and sits. You watch as he stretches out his long legs and makes himself comfortable. You felt your heart jump. What was it about him? You were never the blonde hair blue eyed type. You always seemed to prefer the brown hair green eyes boys. Well the first guy you kissed had brown hair and blue eyes. Leon wasn't overly muscular which you liked. You didn't care for guys who spent most of their day in the gym. Leon was in shape for his job. He had to be, just like you had to be. 

You watched as he was studying your photoshopped pictures on the wall. Plus he has a dumb haircut. Almost as if he could hear you, Leon pushes some of his bangs out of his eyes and rubs lightly on the back of his neck. You watch almost hungrily as Leon sits up to remove his jacket and throw it over the arm of your couch. It was all of it put together. His wit, his sense of humor...your eyes run down the length of him...all of those muscles. You mentally shake yourself. You need to get a grip on this because like it or not he's your partner and it could be disastrous if you made a move and he said no. ....Or....if you made a move and he said yes. You gave yourself a moment to think about how that might be worth it. Taking a deep breath you sigh, you need to take a cold shower today.

Hearing you sigh, Leon looks over at you with a questioning glance. "It's nothing. I just...I don't know the city very well and I have no idea what we could do today," you say. Convincing enough right? You move to sit on the other end of the couch. Folding your legs under you, you sit and face him.

"Well I have an idea but they won't open for a while." He tilts his head over to you. "Twenty questions?"

You roll your eyes, "what are we, kids?"

Leon waves his hand, "they said get to know each other."

You rub your hand over your face, "sure. You go first."

"What's your go to food?"

"Cereal. Always." You think a moment. "Is your favorite animal really a sea urchin?"

He shrugs, "Could be I guess. I don't really have a favorite animal. Are you religious?"

"I'm....apathetic, I guess. My mom was religious, my dad wasn't. You?"

"I think it's a nice thought but I think no matter what religion you follow, if you kill others in its name then there's something wrong. What did you want to be growing up?"

You smile, "a soldier. Always. I used to look out the window to see the troops doing drills. It fascinated me. My parents were killed by attacks from those T virus monsters. After that...I didn't want that to happen to some other family. I figured I had something to offer and I needed to use it." You smile a little. "Plus I have an unhealthy obsession with a sniper" you say trying to lighten the mood. Leon chuckles. "Do you have a favorite weapon?"

"My knife. It's gotten me through some hairy situations."

"That's one thing I'm lacking in I believe. That and I guess hand to hand combat. Most people are bigger than I am."

Leon nods, "you are at a disadvantage as a woman. Not trying to be sexist here, it just the way it is. But you seem to do pretty well for yourself. You could've messed me up pretty bad yesterday."

You laugh, "I broke Miller's nose once with my elbow."

Leon grins at you, "oh I wish I could've seen that."

You smile back at him, "one of my more prouder moments." You look down at your lap. "Are you worried about having a partner?"

His grin slowly falls, "why?"

"You have to answer my question before you ask me one."

He scrutinizes you. "...Yes. Why?"

"Just curious." If he was going to give half and answer, then so would you. You hold his gaze not backing down.

"I'm not exactly the best at sharing personal information."

You shrug, "part of the job. I'm not exactly all about it either but I'm trying."

Leon studies you for a bit longer before dropping his gaze. "When it's only you out there, it's easier. When your life in on the line, it's because of your own decisions. Not someone else's. It's easier to swallow that pill. But if I made a decision that put your life in danger..." he shakes his head. "I'm not sure how to handle the extra responsibility."

You tsk, "I'm a big girl Leon. I can handle myself. I could very easily be put in the same situation to where I made a decision that put you in harm's way."

Leon smirks, "I don't follow a lady's lead. Sorry."

"Who's your support?"

"Hunnigan."

You shake your head, "she's mine too. Do you not follow her lead?"

He laughs, "not nearly as much as she would like."

"This is why Miller doesn't like you," you sigh.

"You never answered my question."

You pause. He gave you a truthful answer. He deserved one back. "I'm new whereas you've been doing this for a while. I would hate....to..." you sigh, "my biggest fear is being a liability. If I jeopardized a mission...I couldn't live with myself." You rub your hand harshly. "I made myself train more and harder than most of the guys I grew up with. Because I felt like I had to. Men are just naturally stronger. It's just the way we're built. I can never get on the same page. Well I guess I could, but I'm not looking to become a body builder or anything." You take a breath and stop yourself from rambling further. "What I could do, is become quicker. And work on my endurance to outlast them. And make sure my weapons training was on point."

Leon nods thoughtfully, "I can understand that." He looks over at you still rubbing your hands. "You need to get rid of that nervous tic."

You immediately stop, "I know. I also need to work on my poker face."

Leon smiles, "that's what we can do later tonight. We'll play some poker and we'll work on getting you out of those habits." You nod. "I guess to lighten things up a bit...do you play an instrument?"

You look up at him, "isn't it my turn to ask a question?"

"No" Leon says flatly, "you asked me about Hunnigan."

"Oh...um no, I can't...not really. I know how to play one song on the piano."

"What song?"

"I get two questions now." Leon rolls his eyes. "Canon in D major."

Leon lets out a surprised laugh, "I was fully expecting a nursery rhyme or something. But Pachelbel?"

You smile to yourself, "yeah, weird I know. A friend of mine taught me. It was the first and only song I learned. You play an instrument?"

He shakes his head, "I never had the time. I would like to learn one day. Maybe when I'm retired with nothing else to do."

"Do you have any other skills besides ones that pertain to your job?"

Leon's eyes move as he thinks about your question. "I used it before on an undercover assignment, so I don't know if this counts, but I can dance."

Your eyes twinkle in mirth. Leon? Dancing? Like at a club? "You can dance," you echo.

Leon sees your delight, "Like waltz and other traditional dances. Not grinding on someone at a nightclub."

You can't help it. You bust out laughing. "I'm sorry but it's hard to picture you at a nightclub enjoying yourself. Maybe at the bar with a drink. But when you said dance, that's the first thing I thought of."

He shakes his head, "can you dance? And not nightclub dancing."

You wipe the tears from your eyes still laughing a bit, "underage remember? Grew up on a military base with a bunch of guys and overprotective dad and friends? I haven't ever been to a nightclub. Or had a traditional date. I actually found out recently that there was a rumor that I was seeing my best friend. There wasn't anyone brave enough to ask me out I guess, between him and my dad."

"Your dad was the commander. I doubt anyone wanted to be that stupid."

You nod, "I get it. And Chris was one of the top in the class. Nobody messed with him. But no to your question. I don't know how to dance, maybe you can teach me that too."

Leon scoffs, "we'll see." Checking the time, he looks back at you. "Why don't you go shower? And wear something you don't care about."

You hesistate getting up, "...why?"

He smiles, "you'll see."

You give him a questioning look, but he keeps quiet. 'Whatever, I'm sure whatever he has in mind is fine.'

You were almost to the bathroom when he calls out, "and pack a change of clothes too. For after."

You shut the bathroom door. 'Bossy ass.'

********

Leon ended up taking you to an outdoor paintball field and you can't remember the last time you had that much fun. You laughed everytime Leon did some sort of ridiculous roll to hide behind another wall or whatever shelter he could find. Needless to say, you gave up your position everytime. Leon landed quite a few more shots than you did, but oddly enough you didn't care. You felt happy. And seeing Leon so carefree and less...calculated makes you think that maybe it was good for him to have a bit of fun too.

You did have a small setback when he got you once in the neck while you were trying to move out of his line of fire. You heard him yell for you as you sat down and rubbing the spot that hit you. It stung quite a bit. You heard his boots on the ground before you saw him come around the corner. Pulling your hand away, he wiped away the paint to check the area. Pressing the spot with the pad of him thumb, he hums a bit, "You might bruise."

You shrug, "if I do it'll be gone in a couple of hours." You meet his eyes a couple of inches from your face. You didn't realize he was that close. You swallow hard praying that he couldn't feel your increased pulse, especially since his hand was still holding your neck.

Your eyes dart to his mouth when Leon wets his lips, "you need to be quicker," he says softly. You manage a nod as he pulls away. He holds out his hand to help you up. "Come on. Let's get changed and grab some food."

You find yourself back at his apartment a little later. You pull off your backpack and grab your change of clothes as Leon walks back to his bedroom. Should you take the bathroom or is he going to grab a shower? "Leon?"

"Huh?" he calls out.

"Do you want to take the bathroom first or...?" you trail off. Leon walks out of his bedroom with the paint filled shirt in his hand. The wind literally punches out of your chest. Leon was standing there in nothing but his jeans and boots. Little splotches of multicolored paint was smeared across his chest and in his hair. Your eyes greedily roam across the expanse of tanned skin on his chest, some places more tan than others, and down to just an outline of toned abs. Your mouth goes dry as your eyes move down to where his hips form a v before disappearing into his boxers that were barely showing above his jeans. 

Your eyes dart up to his when you realized you're staring. He's looking at you with a blank expression. "I uh....I just wanted to know..." you blush. There's no way out of that one. He watched you check him out, you figured you better just come clean. "I'm sorry," you chuckle in embarrassment, "you just came out...shirtless" you wave your hand in dismay, "and I just...looked at you like I was starving and you were Thanksgiving dinner."

Leon gives you a genuine smile, "it's ok. I caught you off guard I guess."

"Yeah," you avert your eyes to look anywhere but him. "I was wondering if you wanted to jump in the shower first? Since it's your place." You couldn't help it, you take another look at him.

Leon's silent for a moment as he takes in your appearance, "I don't mind sharing," he says smirking.

Your eyes close, "please don't. I'm embarassed enough." Your heart feels like it's going to beat out of your chest. Leon, in the shower, with water running down him. You don't think you could handle that.

You open your eyes when you feel Leon grab your hand. "Hey," he says squeezing your hand, "I'm sorry, I'll back off. I'm just messing with you. I promise I'll try to be professional from here on out. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

You see that softness in his eyes again. He was being truthful. "You'll TRY to be professional?"

He laughs, "yeah, try." He drops your hand and throws his shirt into the garbage can sitting next to the kitchen island.

"You can wash that you know?"

Leon shrugs, "I need new clothes anyway. Mine tend to get ruined fairly quickly." He turns back to you. "After we get clean do you want to help me pick some new clothes?"

You look at him surprised. "You want to go shopping?"

"No" he says huffing out a breath, "I have to go shopping. There's a difference."

A gentle smile forms on your face at his exasperation. "I don't mind, but I'm not sure how much help I'll be. All my clothes are...functional. Not particularly picked out cause they looked good."

Leon looks you over, "I don't see anything wrong with that. Almost all of mine are like that."

You laugh, "well it's different for guys, cause your clothes have always been functional. You have pockets for one. And most stuff for girls now have rhinestones or glitter or say 'baby doll' or 'love' on them. I'm not even close to that type of girl."

Leon grins, "I can tell. Go ahead and shower first."

You shake your head, "I don't have to. This is your place."

"So? You're more painted than I am, plus this means you'll get the hot water."

"You're playing a dangerous game, Leon. Giving me the hot water? You won't have anything left." You smile as you see his eyebrows furrow. "I like my showers really hot, if the water doesn't sting, then it's not warm enough."

He shakes his head, "just go. If it's cold I don't care."

"Don't say I didn't warn you" you call as you shut his bathroom door. You lean against it smiling. It was sweet of him letting you go first.

You spend a few minutes figuring out how his shower worked and let it heat up. Once you took your hair out of it's bun, you realize he probably had an all in one shampoo/conditioner/body wash/toothpaste combination that most men's products have. You say a little prayer for your hair before you get in.

What Leon actually had, was just shampoo and some body wash. You knew it was too much to hope for some conditioner. You turn the temp down on the water making the shower colder than you normally liked. 'He was nice enough to let me shower first. I can leave him some hot water.'

You didn't stay in for very long and grabbed the hanging towel when you stepped out. Drying off you wrinkle your nose at the scent of his body wash. It wasn't a bad smell at all, but it was on you. You just smelled like a guy now. You mentally shrug it off. There's nothing you could do at this point.

As soon as you were dressed, Leon knocked on the door. "You decent?"

"Yeah why?"

Leon doesn't answer and instead opens up the door and rushes past you to the toilet. It didn't register what was happening until you heard the zipper on his pants.

You bury your face into the towel. "Oh my god Leon," your muffled voice fills the bathroom, "you could've said something!"

You waited until you heard the zipper and the toilet flush for you to pull the towel away. Turning to him, you shake your head. "If you had said something, I would've given you some privacy."

Leon shrugs as he sets his clothes down on the counter beside you. "I don't care. Plus growing up with a bunch of guys, I would think you'd be used to it."

"That and more actually. Most of them had no shame."

Leon turns back on the shower, "sit and talk to me?"

"...i guess?" You take a seat on the toilet lid and cover your face with the towel to give him some privacy. You remove it once you hear the shower curtain close. Toweling dry your hair you thought about growing up on the base. "It was actually the guys who had the talk with me."

Leon's laugh echoes through the bathroom. "Seriously? How'd that go?"

"It was informative and not all correct, I came to find out. By the time Robert had the talk with me, I had already heard most of what he had to say." You chuckle at the memory. "When I started telling him what the guys told me, he demanded names."

"Did you tell him?"

You shook your head even though he couldn't see you, "no. I'm no snitch." You smile a bit remembering Robert's anger. "He was so ticked. I think on one hand he was proud that I didn't tell him, but he was more angry than anything."

You hear the click of Leon's shampoo. "What did he do?"

"Nothing. What could he do?" You put the towel on the top of the toilet tank. "You know, it was actually Chris who went and got me my first tampons when I started my period."

You can hear Leon go still, "...ok? You didn't tell Robert?"

"We were out on the field training when I started and Chris was leading the group. I kinda knew what to expect so when it happened the only person I was comfortable with was Chris. I couldn't very well leave. We were training on survivability. So we used medical gauze and did the best we could. After we got back, Chris went straight to the medical bay and picked them up for me."

Leon laughs, "poor guy."

"Yeah" you say smiling, "Chris has a sister about my age. So he wasn't new to that. What was great about the situation, was the medic is good friends with my dad and told him about Chris getting them for me. I was one of I think five girls there. It wasn't hard for her to guess what was going on. Robert didn't handle it nearly as well as Chris did."

"I wouldn't think so. You were his daughter and that brings....complications."

"Aren't you wise for your age," you quip. "I never asked, how old are you by the way?"

Leon shuts the shower off. "24. Thanks for leaving me hot water by the way."

You chuckle, "you let me shower first. I figured I'd be nice back." You sit there for a moment until he clears his throat, "oh right! I'll leave you to it." You make a hasty escape out of the bathroom to let him dress in peace. You hear the shower curtain open as soon as the door was shut. This man was going to be the death of you.

********

There weren't many stores around Leon's apartment, so he headed over close to yours. Shopping with Leon was an experience to say the least. You marveled at how he just grabbed clothes off the rack without trying it on. He saw his size, held it up to him, and just picked it up. You shook your head at the injustice of it all. If you did that nothing would fit right. You didn't pick out a whole lot of his clothes but you did choose a green henley like the one he threw away. When walking through the racks, you landed on a wonderful dark blue button down that you thought would match the color of his eyes. Bringing it to him, he holds it up to his chest, "yeah?"

You nod, it did bring out his eyes, "definitely." Leon places it over his arm with some other clothes. You grab the sleeve of what turned out to be another leather motorcycle jacket. "You really like these huh?"

He looks down at it, "you should find you one. Especially since you've been on my bike more than anyone else."

"Exactly how many people have you had on your bike," you asked teasing him.

"Just you, no one else," he replies seriously.

'Ok then.' You didn't know what to say to that so you kept silent. 

Leon pays for his clothes and you two walk around a bit. After a while, you pass by the shop that still had that pretty dress in it. You stared at it as you walked by trying to think of any reason at all to buy it. Not right now because Leon was with you and that would be weird.

Leon's hand grabs the side of your hip and pulls you towards him. As you whip your head around a guy on a bike passes beside you. "Sorry. Thanks."

Leon looks towards where you had your head turned. "Did you see something?"

"No", you lied. 

Leon points somewhere up ahead. "Well I do."

You scan the shop signs, "the leather one?"

"Yeah we can get you a jacket."

You shrug. "Sure."

The leather shop smelled funny. Leon said that's the way they're supposed to smell if it was genuine leather. You had stopped by a stand that several wallets. Deciding that you could use a better one than the one you had, you picked out a soft brown one. Noticing something beside you, you looked up.

Leon held up four different jackets. One of them was a purple that was a cross between a lilac and periwinkle color. You curl your nose.

"What?" Leon turns the jacket towards him. "Not a fan?"

You shook your head, "not at all." Looking over them two of them were black, one with stripes like his and the other was plain. 'Wouldn't black be hot?' You grab the last jacket from him which was brown. Trying it one, you zip it up and held your hands out to your sides.

Leon looks you over and nods. "That one looks good. Let me put these back."

As you're putting the jacket back on the hanger, you notice that Leon had grabbed another jacket for himself. You smile, 'guess that's just his thing.' You were fixing to go pay for it when you heard him whistle. Turning back towards, him he has another one held up. It was a beautiful dark gray color with a single white stripe down the arms and two across the bottom band. "Yeah that one." You make your way towards him as he walks towards you. He grabs the brown jacket and wallet from your hands. "Hey, no I still want the wallet."

He ignores you and heads to the register. "Leon, I don't need both."

He sets them down in front of the smiling girl. "Everyone needs a spare."

You sigh as she rings them up. "Do either of you need leather cleaner? They're buy one get one free this week."

"Sure," Leon says as he pulls out his wallet. 

You grab his forearm. "You are NOT paying for these."

Leon looks down over at you. "That's funny cause it looks like that's what I'm doing."

You give him a stern look. "I have my own money."

"Congrats," Leon says looking back at the girl behind the register. 

She's smiling at the both of you. "Oh! Sorry, that'll be $831.63."

Your eyes widen. You didn't even think to check the price tags. "I'm not comfortable with you paying that much for something for me."

Leon shrugs you off and pays for it anyway. You give the girl an exasperated look. She giggles. "You two are cute. Let him pay for it if he wants, that just means you can buy other stuff."

You didn't need other stuff. You had got your bank statement a week ago and out of curiosity you opened it. You laughed out loud. The DSO apparently paid very well. You had to buy a house or drop a ton at a casino to spend all that.

You give her a small smile as she hands his change back to him. "I guess that's true," you say so you didn't make a scene, but you were pissed.

Leaving the store, you two start to make your way back to where he parked. It shouldn't upset you, he was trying to be nice. But you could take care of yourself and you worked too, just like he did. You warred back and forth trying to justify it in your head. You didn't want to be mad at him for a gesture, especially since he didn't mean anything by it. Just doing something nice. But he didn't need to spend that much on you, you weren't even dating him. You let out a long sigh.

"What gives?" Leon says quietly beside you.

You tell him the whole jumbled mess you just went through in your head, well except for the dating part. "I would've just felt better if you had let me pay for it." You finished in almost a pout.

Leon looks at you with an amused smile. "I've done some pretty messed up things that made women mad at me before, but this is new." He sets the bags down beside his bike.

You roll your eyes, "I'm not mad, I'm frustrated. You might not follow a lady's lead, but that doesn't mean that you can make decisions on my behalf. Especially when it doesn't concern work." He still has that amused smile on his face. "What?"

"Nothing."

You blow out a breath. "Thank you for my jackets...and my wallet."

He smiles at you and pulls the gray one out of the bag. "Wear this one home."

You arch your eyebrow at him, "Did you just tell me what to do again?"

He shakes his head, "no. I said, wanna wear this one home?" He punctuates the question with a tilt of his head. 

You laugh, you can't help it. "No you didn't, you ass, but sure, I'll wear that one."

Leon laughs with you and pulls the tags off. He holds it out to help you into it. You comply but mentally shake your head. One minute he's thoughtful and the next he doesn't care what you say or think. Turning back around you zip it up. You run your hand down the sleeve of it. "I never expected these to be as soft as they are. They always looked stiff to me."

Leon's looking down at you with an unreadable expression. You look down back at the jacket, "does this one look weird?"

"No it looks good. Hold the bags?"

You look at him a moment longer. "Sure?"

Whatever that was, it passed quickly with Leon's smile. "My place? Pizza? Beer? Strip poker?"

You laugh climbing on behind him. "Professional my ass."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some odd reason I had some text in italics which didn't copy over. I added a star (*) to Chris's text so it's not confusing on who said what.

"Full house!" You sit back in your chair and beam at Leon. An empty pizza box sat between you and a few empty beer bottles. Most of them from Leon as you were still working on your second.

Leon threw his cards on the table with a huff. "I think you've lied to me Y/N."

You rest your chin on your hands, "how's that?"

"You said you needed to work on your poker face," he gestures to the cards on the table, "you've beat me almost everytime."

You hum, and smile sweetly at him. "I think you misunderstood. I said work on my poker face, what I didn't say is that I'm bad at poker."

Leon throws his hands up, "then just apply that to whatever you're doing."

"I can't! I've tried so many times and I have no idea what's wrong with my brain but there's some sort of disconnect where I can't keep a blank expression if I'm not playing poker."

"You just need practice," Leon says grabbing another beer from the fridge, "you need a refresh?"

You look at your half full bottle, "no I'm still good."  
Standing up, you go to relieve yourself. Looking in the mirror you realize that your cheeks have already taken on a bit of pink tinge which happens everytime you drink. You shake your head, you were definitely a lightweight. 

Coming back out, Leon's still beside the fridge just leaning on the counter. He's looking down at the floor but his eyes seem lost somewhere. "Leon? Is everything ok?"

"Yeah," he says looking up at you, "I was just thinking." He studies you for a moment, "wanna dance?"

You smile, "finally got drunk enough for that huh?"

Leon ignores you and pushes back the couch until it's against the wall. He holds out his hand towards you. You slowly make your way over to him and place your hand in his. He immediately takes a firm hold and pulls you very close, almost touching. "No, I'm not anywhere close to being drunk enough."

You look up at him, "you don't have to Leon, I was just asking when you brought it up."

"Have you seen or know what the waltz is?" Leon asks as he grabs your other hand.

"Yeah, I know what it is."

"Okay good, so we'll do a very basic version. I'll count to keep time. And just follow my lead."

You look up to see a little smile at his last line. Shaking your head, you look down at your feet. Leon pulls you right up against him. You suck in a surprised breath. "No looking."

"But I don't know what I'm doing."

Leon releases you, "I know. Just trust me and follow my lead."

"Fine."

Leon moves slowly and begins a box waltz. You would move stiffly mirroring Leon and thankfully his hand on your waist helped. He would apply a tiny bit of pressure to signal where he move next. After a couple of times creating a box, he started to turn. You stumbled a few times but Leon was a great lead and moved you through it effortlessly. "Just relax," Leon says softly, "I've got you." You nodded and willed yourself to let your limbs relax.

After a few more turns, Leon moves away from you and turns your arm with the one hand he still has a hold of. Confused, you stop and he ends up bringing your arm up against your face. He laughs letting go of your hand and you drop your arm. "You're supposed to spin."

"How was I supposed to know?!" 

"I turned your arm."

"Well yeah, clearly. You basically made me smack myself." You huff. Leon's still laughing at you. "Warn me next time."

Leon pulls you close again, his laughter died but you still see it dancing in his eyes. "I'm sorry. We'll get it right this time. Just make sure you're paying attention."

You shake your head but follow his lead again. He tells you out loud before he spins you and this time you move to his lead. Turning back to him you see his eyes dancing again and you smack his chest before placing your hand back on his shoulder.

You ended up relaxing fully into the dance after several turns and realize at some point Leon quit counting. It felt weird just having the sound of your feet against the floor so you started humming a song. 

Leon stops the both of you, "can you sing?"

You smile, "anyone can sing, Leon." He stays silent at your smartass comment. You smile wider and give in, "I guess so? I don't really sing around people. Just Robert mainly."

"Will you sing for us?"

Immediately you became nervous, "oh I don't know. I don't know how good I am."

Leon gives you a mischievious look, "well if you sound like a goat, I'll let you know."

You roll your eyes, "fine."

Trying to look anywhere but at Leon was impossible, so you just shut your eyes. You didn't sing in front of people, just Robert, and once Chris just because you thought you were by yourself. He bugged you to sing again but you never would. Still feeling nervous and self conscious you automatically picked one of Robert's favorites, My Funny Valentine by Frank Sinatra. When you first started to sing, Leon didn't move. It took until almost the chorus before he started the both of you on a slower waltz that matched the tempo of the song. 

It wasn't until you got to the second verse that you realized how ridiculous this situation was. You were waltzing with your partner, your attractive government agent partner, in his apartment, after pizza and beer, as you were singing a love song. 

As you close out the song, Leon spins you out and back towards him but takes advantage of your closed eyes and dips you. You laugh opening your eyes fully expecting to see Leon laughing as well. What you didn't expect was the seriousness in which he was looking at you. 

Your laughter died almost instantly, 'oh my god is he going to kiss me?' After a few moments of him not moving, you break the silence. "So...um...I'm guessing I didn't sound like a goat?"

Leon still held you in the dip which was becoming a bit uncomfortable. "We should get some sleep."

Confused, you help him straighten you up, but as soon as you were upright Leon let's go of you like you were on fire. He walks to the kitchen to throw away the empty box and bottles. Feeling somewhat hurt at the coldness coming from him, you start pulling the couch back to it's original spot. You grab the base up under the lip of the cushion and feel the cold steel of a gun.

"Careful, there's a gun there," Leon says as he pouring the rest of his open beer down the drain.

"Would've been more helpful if you told me five seconds earlier," you reply not trying to keep the irritation you felt from your voice.

Leon was getting more and more bipolar as time went on. 'Not actually bipolar but still. I don't get it. All the guys I grew up with and this one had to be the most annoyingly frustrating man I've ever met! And he's my partner! And he's...well...an ass....and maybe I like him...a little.' 

Inner mini rant done, you turn to Leon who's wiping down the counters kind of roughly. Walking up beside him, you felt a bit more comfortable, you can handle angry. 500 plus men, yeah you've seen your fair share. "I can take a taxi home if you want," you start softly. "We've both drank and I don't want you driving if you were thinking about that." 

Leon stops scrubbing the counter so hard. You take a glance down, there wasn't anything on the counter to clean. After a moment of his silence you shrug, "I'll call a taxi then."

"You can stay here." Leon says just as quietly as you.

You shake your head, "no, I really don't want to when the person I'm staying with is pissed off at me for no apparent reason."

"I'm not pissed at you."

"Then what's with this?" you gesture at the rag in his hand.

"I'm cleaning."

"You're cleaning the already clean countertop, Leon. I'm not stupid," you say angrily.

"No one said you were."

You throw your hands up, "fine. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, you can have the bed. It's more comfortable."

"I thought we already had this discussion about telling me what to do all the time."

Leon clenches his jaw, "I only suggested the bed because I wouldn't feel right having my GUEST sleep on the couch."

"And I wasn't comfortable having my WORK partner buying almost a grand worth of jackets for me but such is life."

Leons groans setting the rag down, "just take the bed."

You cross your arms and lean your back against the counter, "I'm smaller. I can fit on the couch more comfortably than you."

Leon moves and places his hands on either side of you trapping you against him and the counter. "Let me put it like this. I'm sleeping on the couch, whether you're there or not."

Was it an intimidation move? Yes. Were you falling for it? Not really. Was it kinda hot? Definitely. You smile despite the argument you were currently in. "Leon," you say in a low voice, "don't tempt me with a good time."

Leon moves in closer crowding what little space you have. "You are without a doubt the most frustrating person I've ever met."

You place a hand over your heart, "oh my god. You're so sweet. Thank you."

Leon groans and leans forward resting his head on top of yours. He stays there for just a little bit. You didn't mind, your nose was filled with all sorts of good smells. "You smell like me," his voice rumbles above you.

"I used your shower."

He nods moving your head with him. "It's strange."

You huff a small laugh into his neck. Leon lets out a heavy sigh and pulls away from you a little. Searching your face, his expression softens, "I'm sorry."

You rub your hand up and down his arm beside you, "it's okay, I'm sorry too." 

Realizing what you're doing, you immediately let go. 'Jesus Y/N just feel him up.' You can feel the blush running up to your cheeks. You did the same thing with Robert and Chris as comfort but you knew them. 'Will I ever stop making a fool out of myself in front of him?'

Leon chuckles and squeezes your hand. "I didn't mind." You take in a deep breath and let it go to try and lessen the heat in your face. It didn't work but at least you tried. "Does this mean you'll take the bed now?"

You smile, "I don't know," you say lightly teasing, "the couch seems tempting."

"We're work partners," he starts seriously. He looks down at his hand still lightly holding on to yours. "I'm trying really hard to keep it that way." He pauses and gives a small shrug, "I'm not doing the greatest but I'm still trying here. But let me tell you this," he waits until you make eye contact with him. "If you're on the couch with me, I'm not going to give a damn if we're work partners or not. There's only so much self control a person has."

You swallow hard. Did he just admit to liking you or...wanting to sleep with you? It felt like a fire just started in your stomach and goose bumps raise up on your arms. You rub your hands over them.

Leon sees this and confuses your reaction. "Jesus Y/N! I didn't mean anything like that! I would never force you or anyone for that matter! I'm not that type of person! I was just saying that you're attractive and I...lord I'm so sorry. I'll call a taxi for you."

You grab his arm stopping him from reaching to his phone, "Leon I didn't think...that." You take a breath. "I just...um..." you trail off trying to think of a way to explain your reaction. "You said that and I...". You're failing miserably at this. "I think...you're attractive too."

Leon looked confused when you grabbed his arm and still looked that way until you called him attractive out loud. "Oh....oh!" He says finally realizing that he didn't scare you but instead turned you on a bit. He smiles proudly.

You roll your eyes. "I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself there. I value my job more than you." Leon still has that smug look on his face. 'He's like a 13 year old.' 

"And I am going to take the bed just so I can lock the door," you say as you move past him into his bedroom.

Leon laughs, "you want me to spray cologne on the pillows for you?"

You slam the door in response. 'Ass' you think with a smile.

Leon knocks before you can do anything, "I need to change."

"Oh right," you say as you move past him to let him have his room back. Well slamming the door has no effect when you have to let the person back in.

'Crap, I didn't bring anything to sleep in.' You rummage through your backpack and find those tiny little shorts from training shoved into the bottom of it. You were trying to decide if you really wanted to wear those when you hear Leon call out from his room, "fair warning. I don't sleep with a shirt. And sometimes with no pants."

You stare daggers at the bedroom door. 'Well two can play this game.'

You go into the bathroom and change into those tiny shorts and just leave on your tank top that you had under your tshirt. Adjusting the shorts a bit you still felt awkward with how much it showed. 'Get over it.' You pull your hair tie out and mess up your hair just a bit. 'The hell are you doing Y/N?!' you say to yourself. You almost chickened out and changed back but screw it. He's been messing with you this whole time. Maybe he needs a taste of his own medicine. You heard his door open along with some rustling of a blanket. Mentally stomping down some anxiety that showed up, you walk out of the bathroom. 

"There's some more extra blankets in the closet if you need them," Leon says as you walk to the fridge to get a bottle of water. "I don't have any extra pillows so I hope one will be enough for you, unless you need two. In that case you can have the one I took, I don't really need a pillow to sleep."

You take a small sip of water watching him lay a blanket over the couch while talking to you. True to his word he was shirtless but had some loose jogging pants on. You watched the muscles in his back flex as he was working out the wrinkles in the blanket. As much as you'd like to stay and watch him, you move to the bedroom.

"Did you hear..." Leon trails off as he finally sees you.

You inwardly jump for joy at the look on his face. 'That's what you get! Eat your heart out.' Leon had went completely still. "Yeah, I heard you, I was just drinking some water. One pillow is fine. Thank you though."

Leon didn't seem to hear you as his eyes move slowly up your body lingering in a few spots.

You snap your fingers. His eyes move to your smug smiling face. "Did you hear ME Leon?" you ask sweetly.

He clenches his jaw, "you could've gave me a warning you know."

You laugh as you walk away to his bedroom. "Maybe next time."

You feel Leon's stare until you shut the door. Leaning up against it, you shut your eyes. 'Well that was exhilarating....' you think about the hungry look on his face at your lack of clothing...that you purposely wore, to see his reaction. You rub a hand over your eyes, 'guess I'm a 13 year old too.' 

You're still smiling on a job well done when you shut off the lights. Climbing into his bed you pull the covers over you and his scent envelopes you. Pressing your face into the pillow, you could still smell the lingering smells of his cologne, detergent, and his shampoo. Of course that could've been from your hair. You sigh and settle into the bed. 'Touché agent Kennedy.'

*************

The next morning was a really lazy routine. You had slept in by your standards, which still made it early. You tip toe by the couch which possessed a still asleep Leon, and you make coffee as quietly as you could. He heard you anyway and you gave him a small apologetic smile. Leon just turned away and pulled the covers over his head. 

You check your DSO phone just to make sure there wasn't anything missed, which there wasn't. So you turn on your personal phone to check in with Robert. That being done, your finger hovers over your previous conversation with Chris. He hasn't text you but you didn't want to leave things like he had. It just didn't feel right. 

Mind made up, you ask him how he is. You check and make sure your phone is on silent so Leon can sleep. Given the time, Chris may be busy. You didn't know anymore since he was now an official BSAA member.

Coffee done you quietly open cabinets until you find the mugs to pour yourself a cup. You see your phone light up as you set the cup down but pass it up to grab the blanket from Leon's bed. Cocooning yourself, you sit back down at the kitchen table.

 

*Fixing to be busy. What's up?

I had to make sure we were ok.

*I haven't had time to check in with you.

That's not what I meant and you know it. Quit being stubborn.

*That's one of my more redeeming qualities though.

 

You roll your eyes at the screen. He's not upset anymore.

 

Did you get my gift?

*You mean G.I. T-Rexanator? He stays strapped to my tactical vest.

You did not! And that's a great name for him.

*He did once. I was told to remove him by my commanding officer. Apparently he didn't think the Rexanator was good enough to watch my flank.

Sounds like your commanding officer is a smart man.

*So what are you doing?

I'm currently wrapped in a fluffy blanket having coffee on a very hard chair.

*Sounds like you need new chairs.

They're not my chairs. I'm not home.

 

As soon as you hit send you wanted to smack yourself in the face. Yeah you're not home at 6am. Just let him know you're staying with someone.

 

*....who's home you in?

 

You could easily lie your way out of this but that would seem like you had something to hide. But you also didn't want to cause another shitstorm. But it was Chris. You sigh, you're going to tell him.

 

My partner, Tyler.

 

You were pretty sure you shouldn't give out his real name even though Chris was BSAA.

 

*I see

It's nothing like that. The DSO is having us spend this week together to get to know each other better. They said partners work better together when you know what to expect from each other.

*I agree. I always knew the way you thought as well. Makes leading a team easier.

 

You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. Maybe Chris wasn't going to blow this out of proportion.

 

*I'm assuming he's being good to you?

Yeah he is. An asshole, but he's not creepy or anything.

*Good. I'd hate for Tyler to experience a tragic accident.

I'll let you know if that changes.

*You better. I gotta get going. I'll be out of touch for a while, not sure how long. I'll text you when I can.

Ok. Be careful.

*X

 

You shake your head at his dumb sign off as he called it. Sighing you turn off your phone, hopefully he's got some good guys around him. 

Refilling your cup, you spend the rest of the morning enjoying the peace and quiet.

**********

You and Leon spent most of the day just talking about random stuff. It wasn't until late afternoon that the both of you left the apartment to go back to yours to get a change of clothes. You offered to let him stay with you instead of you staying there. He declined saying it felt weird. You didn't disagree. Your apartment felt weird to you too. 

Back at his apartment, he had pushed the couch out of the way again so that you two had enough room to work on some moves. Leon taught you some basic things to disarm a man who outmatched you physically, while you taught him some defense moves from Krav Maga.

Your impromptu training session was interrupted by Chinese takeout, not that you minded. Over dinner Leon dropped a bomb on you.

"I made dinner reservations for Friday night." Leon says casually.

"That's cool. Where at?"

"A place called Cicada."

You nod even though you had never heard of it. "They have good food there?"

He shrugs, "never been."

You take a small bite of your noodles. "Ok?"

Leon smiles, "they have a live band."

"So like a restuarant/bar/entertainment thing?"

Leon shakes his head, "more like tiny food, high prices, dancing, and a dress code thing."

You stop eating. Immediately you think of some of those restaurants you saw in movies. The ones with crystal chandeliers and ball gowns and suits. "Dancing," you say flatly.

Leon grins, "you ready?"

"Hell no," you put your chopsticks down. "I know ONE dance which you taught me yesterday. And a dress code? Leon, I don't even own a dress! I've never even worn heels!"

"Don't worry about the dancing part, we'll get you good enough. I can't help you with the other stuff."

You sigh, no longer hungry. "Guess we better get at it."

************

The rest of the week went by quickly and before you knew it, it was Friday. The day you've been dreading. Leon dropped you off the night before back at your apartment saying that he'd pick you up at 8pm.

You had a stressful morning to which you decided to make a list of everything needed for tonight. Your only saving grace was that you finally had a reason to purchase that beautiful dress you saw a while back, if they still have it. You had a little bit of makeup which consisted mainly of mascara, some light foundation which didn't even match your skin color anymore, and a glittery stick of gold creme eyeshadow. You sigh, 'better put makeup on the list'.

Tapping your pen against the paper you had: dress, heels, makeup. You had no idea what you were going to do with your hair. Looking at the ends, you badly needed a cut. Surely someone could get you in for a trim. You write down haircut on the list. You put a star next to makeup. You start running through your head what makeup to buy. Frustrated, you pinch the bridge of your nose. Even if you did buy the makeup, you had no idea how and if you could apply it right. You were close to calling Leon to tell him that you weren't going, but somehow you knew he'd make you anyway. 

Checking the time, it was almost noon. Putting your mug in the sink you quickly pull back your hair, brush your teeth, and change. You didn't know how long this would take and you wanted to give yourself plenty of time. You were out the door less than 15 minutes later.

********

Once at the dress shop, they no longer had the dress on display. You went in anyway hoping that they just rotated out. A sweet older lady greeted you as you went in. Moving around the counter, she waiting until she was right next to you before she asked if she could help you.

"Yeah actually. You had this peach dress in the window a few days ago, I wanted to know if you still had it."

"Oh that one was beautiful wasn't it? Actually we do my dear. Do you know your size?"

"Oh well aren't dress sizes different than...I don't know...normal clothing sizes?" The lady smiles sweetly at you as if saying 'you poor thing'. You blow out a breath. "My...boyfriend...is taking me to the Cicada."

"Oh my goodness!" she says putting a hand over her chest. "Have you been together long?"

You look at her confused, "no?"

"Oh well, that's usually THE place to go when men propose."

"Oh...well I'm new here and I never heard of it. He made dinner reservations for tonight a few days ago."

"Well," the lady says surprised, "he must have some serious contacts. People tend to be on a waiting list for months."

"That exclusive huh?" you say nervously. What has he gotten you into? "I need help. I've worn a dress once. I've never owned a pair of heels and this is basically how I go about my day," you say gesturing to your face.

The lady grabs your hand, "calm down dear. We'll get you ready. What time is dinner?"

"He's picking me up at 8. I think our reservation is at 9?"

"Oh" she says checking her watch, "we can do it. Let's get your dress and shoes and I've got a friend who owns a salon not too far from here. We'll get you set up."

"Oh my goodness thank you" you say in relief. 

She grabs a few sizes from the back and ushers you into a changing room. The first one you tried was way too small. So going a couple of sizes up you finally found one that fit. 

Coming back out, the lady was standing there with a pair of heels in her hands. "Oh my goodness. That dress is gorgeous on you!"

You turn to the mirror and couldn't help but to agree. The peach color complimented your skin tone and you liked that the dress was free of any embellishments. She adjusted the top to where the dress crossed over your shoulders, and pulled them down to where they sat on the side. This resulted in you showing a bit more cleavage. "Is it, maybe, too revealing?"

"There's a line where you're showing too much and just enough. This is just enough." 

You look at your reflection doubtfully. You were showing a lot of skin in the back, almost down to your butt and parts of your stomach. "You sure?"

She shakes her head vigorously, "trust me on this one dear." Helping you over to a bench, she bends down with the shoes. "These are made for dancing." They were a pretty nude color that was closed toed and had a small strap around your ankles. "They're two inches but they've got a wider heel to help with your balance. We don't need to go stiletto if you've never worn heels."

You look at them nervously as she puts them on your feet. Once she got the straps closed, she stands and holds out both of her hands to you. Taking them, you stand up with her help. You take a few tentative steps with them. 'This is isn't bad.' You walk around a bit getting used to feeling like you're on your tiptoes. True to her word, they did feel like they kept you stable enough. "See? You're a natural dear!"

You smile at her, "yeah I'll take these."

Once changed back you pay for your things, to which you about choked at the cost. Never in your life had you spent so much money. But you left with the dress well protected and directions to a salon.

It was only about a 20 minute walk from the dress shop and a girl about your age meets you at the door.

"Welcome to Tessanne's! What's the appointment name?"

"Alyssa Carter."

She checks the tablet in her hands. "I'm sorry, I don't see it. Let me just..."

"She's my work in," a lady says coming to the front. She looked to be about the same age as the lady from the dress shop. "Lindsey, if you don't mind taking her things?"

Lindsey sets down the tablet and takes your dress, "sure thing!"

The lady gestures to your hair, "my friend tells me that you are in dire need."

You laugh, "that might be an understatement. This is how I normally wear it but I'm going to Cicada's for dinner and from what I hear all this," you make a circle around your body with your hand, "won't do."

She laughs as she starts to lead you to a room in the back. "Well, I'm Tessanne, the owner. And by the time I'm done, you won't even recognize yourself. And all this," she says as she does the same gesture you did, "will make Cicada look like they're slumming it."

You smile as she sits you in an overly plush chair. Once seated, an assistant comes in and removes your shoes and dunks your feet into almost scalding hot water. She quickly checks your hands and leaves to presumably get some tools. You give Tessanne a questioning look in the mirror.

"Not from around here?"

"You shake your head. I've been here a couple of months. I relocated after graduation," you lie easily.

"You get a full spa treatment along with whatever we need to do to your hair. So pedicure, manicure, facial and we feed you if you're hungry."

You look at the time. It was almost 3pm already. "My boyfriend is picking me up at 8pm."

Tessanne frowns. "She did mention we are on a tight schedule." She waves her hand in dismissal. "We'll have the pedicure and manicure done at the same time as your hair." She comes around the chair and peers at your face. "Your skin looks good, we won't need to do a facial." You nod as she removes the elastic from your hair and throws it in the trash. You furrow your eyebrows but don't say anything. It's not like you don't have a million others.

She runs her hands through your hair gently detangling it from your bun. She lifts up a few pieces and lets them fall. "You have extremely healthy hair."

You scoff, "what I have is split ends."

She nods thoughtfully, "what do you use in your hair?"

'Like products? Or what?' You rack your brain. "Um conditioner?" She meets your eyes in the mirror. "I don't do anything to it. I shampoo and condition it then I pull it back. I don't own a hair dryer or anything so it either air dries or goes up wet."

Tessanne has a look like you just told her that you eat soggy food off the sidewalk. "So just conditioner. From?"

You shrug, "wherever's closest when I run out."

She lets out a huge sigh. "Well honestly your hair's extremely healthy. I don't know how with all that crap you put in it but I guess that's the perks of being young."

You wrinkle your nose, 'well excuse the hell out of me'.

"I do want to trim your ends. But I believe we'll leave the length. We'll wash, dry, and curl it I think." She looks over your hair again. "Actually I'm going to take a look at your dress first then we'll decide."

"Well not to tighten your schedule further but I don't really own makeup so I still need to do that."

She gives you a small smile in the mirror. "Of course you don't, but we'll do that here."

You huff as she leaves the room. She doesn't have to be so judgemental. 

The lady from before comes in with a bag of stuff. Lifting your foot out of the water, she presses on your heel. Shaking her head, she gently puts your foot back in. She starts shaping your nails.

Tessanne comes back in with your dress. Hanging it up on the wall behind you she looks over it and looks back at you. "What jewelry are you wearing with it?"

You give her a sheepish look. "I didn't think about that."

She looks down at your wrist with your one ring and tied bracelet. "Surely that's not what you're wearing?"

You give her a hard look in the mirror. "These don't come off. Ever."

She meets your eyes and slowly a smile forms on her face. "Fair enough. We'll figure something out."

After she washed your hair, it was a whirlwind of activity around you. Your nails were being painted the same color as your shoes, your feet was being scrubbed by another person, Tessanne was drying your hair, and another girl was picking out makeup on a cart full that she rolled in. You were trying to follow the makeup artists instructions while trying not to move your head so Tessanne could trim your ends. 

After who knows how long, a man in a purple suit with a pink tie busts through the door making you jump. "OH MY GOD!!! Traffic is such a bitch here lately! Tessanne my love! It's so good to you see you! I swear, you look more ravishing by the day!"

Tessanne laughs and gives him a kiss on each cheek, "and you're a dirty little liar but I love you anyway."

"Of course you do." He turns to where you're sitting. "And this must be our Cinderella."

You nod, "Alyssa Carter. Nice to meet you..."

"Just call me your fairy godmother dear. Now don't you worry. I won't need you back home by midnight," he says with a wink.

Tessanne goes back to curling your hair. "That's JJ. He's going to make you sparkle."

"Yeah with my magic wand," he says on a hip thrust.

You laugh out loud. He might be the most ridiculous man you ever met. There weren't many gay men at the BSAA and they definitely didn't act like JJ.

JJ sets down the briefcase he was holding. Whistling a song you never heard, he kept picking up pieces of jewelry while looking at you and your dress. 

Unfortunately, the makeup artist had you close your eyes while she finished up your eyeliner. She instructed you to look up as she started putting liner on your waterline. Your eyes started tearing up making her tsk. "Have you ever wore eyeliner?"

"No, I rarely wear makeup at all."

You feel her dab a tissue around your eye. "Well you're so pretty anyway you don't really need it. If I looked like you I wouldn't wear makeup either." You blushed at her compliment.

Tessanne voiced her agreement. "How old are you?"

"22."

JJ made an excited noise from behind you. "Lord those were the years!"

Tessanne scoffs, "were you ever sober enough to remember those years?"

"Hey," JJ says offended, "I remember the important things."

Eyeliner done you blink your eyes several times to ward off any tears. "We still have mascara and lipstick." You groan out loud. You were ready to get out of the chair and move around.

Tessanne finally got done with your hair just as the makeup artist finished the last bit of lipstick. "My turn now Cinderella," JJ say as he holds out a necklace. It was huge with several large stones around it in almost a choker shape.

Tessanne peers at it, "I think that's a little much."

You nod, "I agree."

JJ makes a face, "ugh fine." He pulls out a chain necklace that had a yellow pear shaped stone hanging from the middle. It was so dainty, you were afraid to wear it.

Tessanne nods, "that'll be perfect."

"But it's so boring," JJ whines.

"It's classy you mean," Tessanne says with a scowl. Taking the necklace from JJ, Tessanne undoes the clasp while you carefully hold your hair up.

"I brought matching earrings," JJ says almost sullenly.

"Tessanne?" you whisper as quietly as you can. She hums in response. "I...I don't know if I can afford this jewelry."

She turns you to where your back is to JJ and you're facing her.

"What did you say?" she whispers back.

"I don't know if I can afford the jewelry. I have a good job and plenty of money but I don't think I want to spend 10 grand or whatever it costs on jewelry that I'll wear once."

Tessanne fusses with the necklace pretending to decide if she likes it or not. "It won't be that much dear. Maybe just a couple of thousands."

You take a deep breath, "I've spent more these last few months with this new job than I have my entire life."

She smiles, "at least you got it to spend dear."

JJ hands you the earrings as Tessanne looks through his briefcase. She makes an excited noise as you put the last one in. "Sit Alyssa."

Confused, you do as instructed as she holds what she found in her mouth while pulling parts of your hair back. Tessanne had covered the mirror some time ago so you didn't get a good look at it. Feeling a rod of some sort go through your hair she carefully situates what you assumed to be a type of barrette in. Once done, JJ clasps a gold bangle around your wrist that covered up Chris's bracelet. Tessanne sprays your hair into place. 

JJ goes to reach for more jewelry when you speak up, "I think I sparkle enough."

"Darling there's no such thing as enough sparkle."

You chuckle, "well how about I don't want to get mugged on the way home?"

Tessanne makes a surprised sound, "did you walk here?"

"Well yea, it was about 20 minutes from the dress shop. And another 20ish from my apartment."

"You can't walk home in that," Tessanne says while gesturing to your dress. "Plus you'll mess up you hair."

You look at her surprised, "I didn't really think about that and I figured I would change when I got home."

Tessanne looks at the clock. "It's 7:15. You'll barely make it."

"I'll take you home," JJ says as he closes up his briefcase, "your fairy godmother has got'chu."

"Good," Tessanne says as she grabs your dress and shoes, "get changed. We'll take a peek in the mirror and then you've gotta go."

You grab your tiny wallet out of your pocket and hand her your credit card as she hands you the dress and pushes JJ out of the room. Changing quickly you stuff your clothes into the bag that had your shoes. Putting the heels on wasn't that hard but the tiny buckles made you afraid that you were going to break them. Once strapped down you let out a breath and start adjusting the top of the dress like the lady did. 

Opening up the door, JJ lets out a wolf whistle that made you blush. "Honey, honey, honey" he takes your hand and twirls you around. "You look absolutely stun-ning!"

Tessanne claps her hands, "come here dear where you can see the full effect." Tessanne leads you to another part of the salon. "Close your eyes, I don't want you ruining this."

You laugh, "whatever you say." You close them as she leads you blindly forward. You let her position you as she wants and you feel her step away.

"Ok dear open them," she says excitedly.

Opening your eyes, you instantly see yourself in a full length mirror. "Oh my god!!!" you practically yell, bringing your hands to your face. 'I don't even look like me!' Your hair was perfectly curled in soft waves. Tessanne had clipped parts of it back while still leaving some to frame your face. Your makeup was done in warm neutral tones except for the bright red lipstick. The yellow stones in your necklace and earrings were almost glittering under the lights. You looked like someone who was older than you, and incredibly rich. "Holy shit."

JJ practically squeeled in delight. "Holy shit is right! You look like a goddess."

You turned and threw your arms around Tessanne. "You're a lifesaver thank you so much!!!"

Tessanne gives you hug back, "let me grab your things. You've got 30 minutes to get home."

You turn to JJ, "thank you so much! And for taking me home."

"My pleasure honey." Tessanne comes back with your bag. "Your card's the bag dear. We didn't drain it too much," she says with a wink. "Go, you're going to be late for your ball."

JJ grabs your bag for you, "our driver's waiting outside."

Once out, he helps you into the back of a large black suburban. You give the driver your address.

"And we need to get there quickly," JJ adds. He settles back into his seat beside you. "So where are you going tonight?"

You adjust the gold bangle around your wrist. "Cicada."

JJ gasps, "that place is to die for!"

You smile nervously, "I hear it's really upscale. I'm not used to all this fanciness"

JJ waves his hand in dismissal, "don't stress about it. You can fall flat on your face on the dance floor and no one's going to think a thing about it. With that dress, you're going to look like me on a farm."

You laugh easing your nerves, "so I'll look highly out of place and ridiculous?"

JJ gives you a mega-watt smile, "in the best way my dear. Who are you going with?"

"My boyfriend," you lie. "We've only been together a couple of weeks."

"If he's trying to impress you, I hope it's working cause I sure am." 

You give him a small smile, "he didn't have to impress me. He's quite...impressive...all on his own."

JJ let's out an excited laugh, "well honey if his, impressiveness" he says wiggling his eyebrows, "isn't enough for you then give me his number?"

You blush furiously, "oh my god! I didn't mean it like that! We haven't...I was just talking about who he is as a person."

JJ smiles mischievously, "well if you haven't that'll probably change tonight if you let him."

'Yeah I wish that was an option'. For all the flirting you and him done back and forth, you couldn't risk your job. And you didn't think Leon would either, no matter what he said to you at his apartment. You hadn't known him for very long but you could say with almost absolute certainty that if it came down something that close, Leon would back away. Hell he had every opportunity to kiss you that night and he didn't. You would've let him too. You let out a small sigh.

JJ pats your hand that was resting in your lap. "Just a couple of more streets down. We're not too late."

You shift to look at the clock beside the driver. 8:03. 'Crap Leon's probably there.' He didn't seem like the type to ever be late for anything.

Finally coming up to your apartment, your nerves flare up again. "Is that your man?" JJ asks.

You saw Leon leaning against a black Audi R8 as the driver pulls up and parks behind him. "Yeah? Where'd he get that car?"

JJ places a hand on his chest, "where'd you get that man?! Lord, I could just eat him up!!"

You laugh, "found him by an abandoned building."

"Yeah if you don't work out, I'm gonna need his number." JJ starts fanning himself. "He got a brother?"

"Not that I know of." You can see Leon looking at your vehicle now that the driver shut it off.

"Pity," JJ says opening the door, "let me help you out."

JJ grabs your now shaking hand, "girl calm those nerves. He's going to fall to his knees when he sees you."

You nod, "ok." It's not like you were going on a real date, even though it felt like it. JJ helps you out of the car and grabs your bag. Shutting the door, he walks you over to Leon.

You're looking at the ground to make sure you didn't step in anything but finally give in and look up at Leon. You saw him as he straightens from leaning on the car. You felt your heart skipping rapidly as you look at him. You send a silent thanks to JJ as your hold on his arm kept you steady. Leon was wearing a very well tailored dark gray suit with a dark blue, almost black, tie. The tie was clipped down with a light gold clip that matched his cuff links. A blue pocket square that matched his tie peeked out from his pocket. His hair was exactly the same way he wore it everyday. "He looks like a greek god" you whisper to JJ.

"Honey, if he was in a toga, I would've already fainted on this sidewalk."

You laugh out loud. You see Leon's slow smile as you come near him.

"Sorry we're late darling," JJ says as he hands Leon your bag.

Leon takes the bag distractedly as he looks over you in awe. You were beaming at the look on his face, your earlier nervousness dissapating. "I'd say it was well worth the wait."

"Ohhh," JJ says releasing you, "you wouldn't have a brother by chance?"

"Sorry, only child."

"Of course," JJ says disappointed. "Well you two kids have fun. Alyssa?" You tear your eyes away from Leon to look at JJ. "You and me need to have coffee some time." He eyes Leon up and down. "Preferably soon? Tessanne knows how to reach me."

You giggle, "I would love that."

"Alright, I'm out." JJ says walking back to the car.

Turning back to Leon you smile, "where did you get this car?"

Leon takes your hand and opens up the door throwing you bag into the back. "Did you think we'd take the bike?"

Looking down at your dress you realize that wouldn't work, "I didn't think about it honestly."

Leon shakes his head as you sit. "We couldn't mess up your hair now could we?" he says shutting your door.

You wait until Leon gets in, "forget the hair. I'm wearing a small fortune."

He shakes his head as he pulls out. "Did you have a stroke?"

"Not yet. I haven't checked the reciepts from the salon or JJ's jewelry."

Leon laughs, "the DSO pays well. I'm sure you'll have enough for groceries."

"That's not the point. All this stuff is so expensive. Everything's like twice as high as what I'm used to back home."

"Quit being so cheap." You huff at him as you see him smile. "Actually no, keep being you. It's cute."

You roll your eyes, "I'm sorry I'm not as worldly as you are. All this," you gesture to the car and yourself, "seems rediculous to me. Give me a gun and some boots and I'm gold."

Leon shrugs, "it might be and as much as I love to see you in your boots, I'd take you out every night as long as you wear that dress."

You turn hiding your blush, "thank you. You clean up well yourself."

"I had this in the back of my closest. I just threw it on. Figured it'd do."

You snort, "of course. I've been gone since noon. Apparently it takes 8 hours to get me presentable."

"I was kidding," Leon says shifting gears. "I had it tailored."

You watch Leon drive as he had to pay attention to the road than watch you. The street lights illuminated his profile and out of the corner of your eye you saw his bicep move as he shifts again. He handled the car with ease weaving in and out of traffic to make it to the restaurant in time. Something about that was a turn on. "Who tailored your suit?"

Leon glances over at you, "why?"

"I need to send them a thank you card and probably a gift."

Leon chuckles, "more talk like that, and it'll go to my head."

You shrug, "let it. You look handsome tonight Agent Kennedy."

He gives you a serious look, "and you look way out my league Agent Y/N."

You scoff, "have you seen you?"

"Y/N, take a compliment," he says sternly. "You look amazing. Always."

You turn your head towards the window. He's right, you suck at taking compliments. You normally ignore them. "Thank you Leon."

"My pleasure," he says focusing back on the road.

You give yourself a stern lecture about how you should dial back the flirting and how much this wasn't a date even though it felt like date. This was just Leon...what?...pushing you out of your comfortable zone? With dinner and dancing at a fancy restaurant? You didn't even question it when he brought it up, you just went along with the flow. But he wasn't your boyfriend even though the thought was nice. He's your colleague and you needed to keep it that way. You look back at Leon and sighed inwardly. As much as that sucked, you needed to keep it that way.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention that I know the summary doesn't fit the story posted, it will just bear with me.

Leon pulls in behind a line of cars waiting for the valet. You suck in a breath. The Cicada was packed and all different luxury sports cars littered the area. The restaurant didn't look like much from the outside but you could tell just by the valet uniforms it was a highly upscale establishment. Their uniforms were suits in a dark burgundy color jacket and black bottoms. One of the valet's was opening the door for a man a couple of cars ahead of you. You saw him bow with a flourish and discreetly take the tip from the driver before letting out a lady from the passenger side. Holding his hand out to her, he again bows as she comes out of the car. Thanks to the outside lightning you could clearly see that she was covered in jewels as well as her dress. The crystals on her dress made her look like she glittered as she turns to take her husbands hand. It was too much for you but she literally looked like a million bucks.

Leon's voice interrupts your thoughts. "Can you say overcompensating?"

"She's beautiful. After seeing that, I believe I might be underdressed."

"You can always tell the ones that crave attention. They need the spotlight to give meaning to who they are and they believe the status that others give them justifies their actions. She isn't a person to envy."

You turn to Leon with a smile. He's watching the couple walk in. "Got any more advice for me tonight, Voltaire?"

Leon's lips twitch in a smile as he pulls up another car length. "Yeah, remember that you are helpless."

Your smile falters, "helpless?"

He gives a short nod, "yes. You don't open your door, you don't pull out your own chair, you wait for me or a waiter to do it."

"What if I have to go pee?"

"You say that you have to excuse yourself. And I'll pull out your chair for you. If you tell someone you 'have to go pee' they might have a heart attack."

You laugh, "maybe I'll do it anyway just to see their reaction."

Leon snorts, "Try not to get us kicked out."

Finally, it was your turn to go. Just like before, a valet let Leon out first and then you. Saying a silent prayer that you wouldn't make a fool of yourself you take his hand lightly. Getting out of the car in your dress made it a bit awkward but you made it work. You hoped you didn't look like a newborn horse trying to stand. Leon takes your hand out of the valet's into his own. You felt something brush across the back of your hand when Leon grabbed yours and realized it was a small folded stack of cash. Smiling at him, you let him lead you up the stairs to the door, which was immediately opened by a waiter.

"Name sir?"

"Tyler Smith."

"Right this way."

Instead of leading, Leon places your hand on the bend of his arm as he walks beside you. You covertly looked around as much as you could. Staring would probably be faux pas and definitely make it seem like you didn't belong. Which you didn't, but it's supposed to be all about the image.

A band, well a small orchestra really, was already playing up on the center stage area which was huge along with the dance floor. There were couples already dancing while others were chatting over their meals. The largest crystal chandelier you had ever seen in your life hung a good 35 feet above the dance floor. Even in the well lit restaurant it cast glittering spots of light over the dancers.

Leon comes to a stop as you bring your attention back to him. The waiter pulls out a chair that he effortlessly pushes back in as you sit. He does the same for Leon.

"Sir," the waiter says after Leon is seated.

"We'll have the Château Le Pin."

"Excellent choice sir. Would you be interested in the vintage Red Bordeaux?"

"Yes and leave the bottle."

The waiter bows before walking away. You make eye contact with Leon. "What happened?" you asked quietly.

"I ordered us a bottle of wine."

You scan the tables around you. They're weren't close enough to where they would hear if you were speaking softly. "Do we order food?"

Leon smiles gently, "no they just bring it out. They have a set menu."

You give him a short nod and look in dismay at the plates and silverware on the table. There were several sets of forks, knives, and spoons. "Outside in Alyssa."

You look back up at Leon, "this is stressful."

You feel Leon's leg stretch out beside yours and you press your leg against his. "It's ok. Just relax. If you're unsure just wait for me."

You take a deep breath. "I can do that."

Leon smiles, "that's my girl."

The waiter comes back with a bottle of wine wrapped in a towel. He carefully pours a bit into Leon's wine glass. Leon gives it a quick swirl and smells it before taking a small sip. "Perfect."

The waiter gives a small bow and fills both of your glasses. He places the wine in a chilled container at the edge of your table before bowing again to leave.

You pick up your wine glass mirroring Leon and take a small sip. Leon carefully watches you. It was bitter but you've tasted way worse beer. Your lips twitch in a smile as you take another drink before setting it back down. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Have you been practicing your poker face? Because that was rather good."

You tilt your head slightly, "maybe."

He smiles and nods his head at you. "Do you like it?"

"The wine?" You glance at the red contents in the glass. "It's not my favorite, but it's drinkable."

"What do you taste?"

"Is it pop quiz time already?" You smile. "Cherry and plum." You study the glass and taste it again. "It has something, almost a bit of a spice maybe?"

Leon smiles at you, "that's very true."

Something's off about his smile. "Are you a wine connoisseur?"

He shakes his head, "scotch yes. Wine not so much?"

"Ok? But you knew to order an expensive bottle?"

He narrows his eyes playfully, "what makes you think it's expensive?"

"Good guess," you say with a small shrug. There's still something about Leon's smile. Like he's waiting for you to figure something out. You ponder over what you're missing out on and take another drink. Leon's smile grows a bit wider. "Did you poison my drink or something? What's with that face."

"I've been here this whole time, with you."

"Yeah but you're sneaky."

Leon chuckles, "I can be."

You give Leon a distrusting stare. Trying to figure out what his deal is. "You don't know anything about wine do you?"

"Bingo."

You roll your eyes, "and you pulled Château Le Pon out of your ass?"

"Le Pin. And no, I found a wiki article about it."

You couldn't help but to laugh out loud. The lady at the table closest to you gave the both of you dirty looks. You drop your head and press the back of your fingers to hide your smile. "I think I upset them."

Leon's eyes are still dancing at his joke, "oh well, I guess..."

"Tyler Smith! Long time no see!" a man's booming voice interrupts.

Finding the source of the voice wasn't hard at all. A tall man with a beard in an all black suit was making his way to your table. He looked to be in his late thirties maybe, with just a dusting of gray around his temples. You could see just the beginning of a small pudge around his waistline even though the rest of him still seemed fit.

Leon stands to greet the man, and the stranger had a good 3 inches of height on Leon. "Good to see you again, Ralph."

Ralph shakes Leon's hand vigorously. "I see work has been treating you well."

Leon smiles, "please join us for a moment?"

Ralph pretends to balk at the idea, "I couldn't..."

"Nonsense." Leon signals a waiter who quickly procures a chair from god knows where. Leon waits until Ralph is seated to sit himself.

"Ralph, I'd like you meet Alyssa Carter. Alyssa this is Ralph Jernigan. Ralph is a brilliant investor on some start up businesses that I would've loved to get my hands on." Leon smiles at Ralph but you could see it didn't reach his eyes.

You hold out your hand for a shake but Ralph brings it to his lips instead. He lingers there for a moment meeting your eyes. "Alyssa Carter," he tries to say seductively. 

You resist the urge to curl your nose and instead give him a sweet smile. "Nice to meet you Mr. Jernigan."

"Please, just Ralph. Mr. Jernigan was my grandfather."

You see Leon out of the corner of your eye, giving you a hard stare. "Ok...Ralph. You can call me Alyssa."

Ralph bows his head over your hand and releases it. You carefully place your hand back onto your lap wanting nothing more than to wipe it off on your dress.

"That's a beautiful necklace. What does Alyssa do for work?" Ralph asks while you can see his eyes travel down to your chest.

You force yourself to stay still, "I'm a private PR consultant."

Ralph meets your eyes, "so you make sure people stay out of trouble?" 

There was something about him that didn't sit right. "I make sure businesses are seen as public friendly. Whether or not they stay out of trouble isn't important as long as it remains behind closed doors. My job is to make sure those doors are secure, through any and all means." You were smiling as you said that but made sure to incorporate a hard tone.

Ralph leans back in his chair with a smile, "where on earth did you find this lovely woman?"

You turn back to Leon who has the beginnings of a proud smile on his face. "Luck."

"I'll say. I always believed it'd take a strong woman to bring you down and you might have met your match."

Leon gives you an almost imperceptible wink before turning back to Ralph. "So how's business?"

"Funny you should ask," Ralph starts, "I've been toying with the idea of hiring a new financial advisor."

"Oh?" Leon asks without emotion.

"Yes, it seems my current one has been a bit...lax...in descretion. And as you know this is a cutthroat business." Ralph straightens his suit. "I can't have other investors getting word of my next business move." Ralph peers at Leon. "I hear you're recently back from Japan."

"Yes beautiful country."

"Business or pleasure?"

Leon shrugs, "a little of both."

Ralph waits for Leon to continue further but Leon stays silent. A smile forms on Ralph's face. "I could use someone like you."

"A lot of people can. I'm afraid that I'm otherwise engaged," Leon counters.

"I can make it well worth your time."

Leon sighs, "I have to preface this with an apology. I'm not looking to handle other people's finances for the rest of my life. I've been dabbling in investing for quite some time. Just little projects here and there. I'm assuming this is because of your previous advisor, but word has it that you have found yourself in a ludicrous deal pertaining to a certain pharmaceutical company." Leon pauses for any sort of reaction from Ralph, seeing none he continues. "I'll make you an offer. Give me partnership investing over the pharmaceutical company, and I'll do my work ad hoc."

Ralph makes a show of thinking about Leon's proposal. "You should stop by my table after dinner. Maybe I can reserve a dance from your lovely lady here as you speak with some of my associates?" 

You give a leering Ralph a dazzling smile, "I would be honored."

"That would be mine alone," Ralph says standing. Leon mirrors him as they shake hands. "I'll leave you to attend to your date. I wouldn't want her feeling lonely enough to seek attention elsewhere."

Leon smirks, "of course."

Ralph leaves in just enough time for the waiter to bring you your first course. Skipping the soup, you reach for your glass of wine, downing the rest. Leon eyes you but doesn't say anything and instead pours you more wine. 

You sip from your glass as you watch Leon take a soup spoon to the middle of his bowl and fill it scooping away from him. Setting your glass down, you mimic his actions. The soup was good even though you had no idea what it was. You can tell Leon was waiting on you to ask a question but you stayed stubbornly quiet. Something about this whole affair felt off but you couldn't determine what it was.

You continued eating the rest of the courses in silence. They definitely didn't serve a whole lot of food but it was spread out to where you felt full after a couple of plates. You were barely picking at it when Leon finally signaled to the waiters that you were done.

With a small sigh you lean back into your chair nursing your wine. You lost count how many glasses you had but by the heavy feeling in your limbs and the fact that your nerves were no where to be found, you figured you were well on your way to drunk.

Leon eyes the drink in your hand, "I wouldn't overdo it."

You smile taking another drink, "I might have already."

You study Leon's face. 'God he's pretty.' You giggle to yourself as you push your leg up against his under the table. "I believe you promised me a dance."

Leon frowns, "can you dance right now?"

"I'm not fully drunk, Tyler. I'm just buzzed a bit."

Leon doesn't look convinced but he stands anyway to help you out of your chair. He leads you out onto the floor just as another song starts. Relaxed as you were, you had no problem stepping into the rhythm he set. You give him a beaming smile.

"How is it that you're a better dancer when you're drunk?" he whispers.

"I'm not drunk," you whisper back, "plus I don't care if I make a fool of myself courtesy of my third glass."

Leon shakes his head, "it's been more than three."

You smile but let the conversation die out. You were having too much fun twirling around the dance floor. Not to mention, you had a very capable partner who you had a hard time keeping your eyes off of. 

By the time the song ended, you couldn't keep the smile off your face. You were having a good time despite the situation feeling off earlier. The better part was that your enjoyment seemed to be rubbing off on Leon as well.

A slower song started up, and Leon pulls you closer to him. As soon as both of you began to move, you were hyper aware of the warmth from his hand on the bare skin of your lower back. You were distracted to the point that you took a wrong step causing you to press your whole body up against him. Leon's hand tightens while effortlessly leading you back into the correct steps. You bite your lip sheepishly as he corrects your mistake. 

You were about to apologize but looking up at Leon, the words died before they ever began. Leon was staring down at your lips almost hungrily. You let your bottom lip go, as a blush rose to your cheeks. 

You were waiting on him to do something...anything at this point when you see Ralph come up beside both of you. "Mind if I cut in?"

You see the moment pass when Leon turns his attention to him. He lightly takes your hand off his shoulder and holds it out to Ralph. "Not at all."

Ralph takes your hand from Leon. "My friends are over there," he says nodding his head in the direction of his table. "They'll wave you over." Leon nods before heading that way. "And take your time Tyler."

Ralph smiles down at you as he leads you back into a dance. You smile back but everything felt wrong. Ralph was taller, his hand felt wrong in yours, and his grip on your waist was way too low and too harsh. "How long have you been here, Alyssa?"

"Not too long, about six months or so."

"How do you like it?"

"It's beautiful." You scan your eyes around the room. "There's always so much going on. It's a bit overwhelming at times."

Ralph's smile widens, "I'm afraid I can't relate. I've always been here."

"Oh? Your whole life?" you ask. Ralph nods as an answer. "Did you ever want to move? Start life in a different place?"

"Are we talking about childhood dreams here?" Ralph asked pleasantly enough but there was something like distrust in his eyes.

You shrug nonchalantly, "I apologize, I was just making conversation. I didn't mean to bring up things you didn't want to speak of."

Ralph stays silent searching your face for something. "No, I never wanted to move. My family travelled a lot and I do now for my work." He's still giving you a hard stare.

You nod and pretend not to notice him studying you. "I wanted to run an animal rescue when I was a girl. My first dog was a rescue and I remember crying after we left because I couldn't take them all home. I actually told my dad that I was going to break in and take them in the middle of the night." 

It was a huge lie but it did the trick. Ralph's eyes danced in mirth, "and?"

"And my dad told me all the ways my plan would fail. He helped me come up with a new one. For some reason I had it in my head that I had to steal them at midnight. And each night I slept right through my alarm. Dad told me it was sign that it wasn't meant to be." You shake your head. "He finally explained that if I took them all then other families couldn't adopt them."

"You were pretty young?"

"Yeah five or so I believe."

Ralph chuckles, "what a handful you were. Five years old and already planning out a crime."

You narrow your eyes playfully, "there's quite a lot of kids who steal a piece of candy. Is that not a crime?"

"That's not near as bad as breaking and entering!"

You laugh at that, but your laughter quickly dies as you see Jack setting down drinks at a table. 'What the hell?'

Ralph pulls you closer, "is something wrong?"

You shake your head and smile back at him, "no, I'm sorry. I just thought I saw someone I knew. He just looks similar."

Thankfully Ralph didn't think anything of it. After seeing Jack you kept half of your attention on your conversation with Ralph and the other half on where Leon was still talking with his associates. 'Jack's here which means Leon's on an assignment.' You wish you knew beforehand, you would've at least strapped your knife to your thigh. You inwardly shake your head. 'If Leon thought it would be dangerous he would've told me. He might just be getting information.' You spin with Ralph's lead which gave you another brief look to where Leon was sitting. He glances at you before you spin back into Ralph's arm. 'Or he's trying to get into a position to get more information.'

You didn't realize that you had already started another song until Ralph pulled you up against him. "You know I am man with plenty of means", he says as his fingers dip below the back seam of your dress.

You resist the urge to shudder, "oh?"

"You wouldn't want for anything. You could do whatever your heart desires. Maybe even start a rescue?" You can feel the tips of his fingers toying with the top of your underwear.

You laugh, "And what makes you think I can't do that now?"

He ignores your question, "Tyler's a good man, but he couldn't possibly give you what I can." His eyes rake over your chest. Being that he was tall, and the fact of your dress being low cut, it wasn't exactly hiding anything. "A woman like you should be taken care of."

You smile sweetly at him hiding your disgust. "I'm a big girl. I provide for myself. I don't need hand outs."

"I didn't say you needed it. I said it should be given."

You pull away slightly to put some space in between your bodies and to remove his wandering hands. He grips you tight to stop you. You meet his eyes. "Ralph, you're hurting me."

You see something like excitement flash in his eyes before it passes and he loosens his grip. "I apologize. Sometimes I don't know my own strength." 

"It's ok," you say almost breathlessly. Your heart was pounding and you couldn't help but wish you could leave and go back to Leon.

"Just think about it Alyssa. But I normally get what I want." 

You look up at him in surprise, 'was that a threat?' 

"That would mean that you would get what you wanted too." Thankfully the song ended before you could reply. "I believe my associates are waiting on me. Let me walk you over there."

"Thank you," you say as Ralph walks with you.

When Leon sees the both of you coming over, his lips press in a thin line. You briefly wonder if he saw the exchange between you and Ralph. As the both of you approach, the men at the table stand.

Ralph twirls you around in a circle and brings your hand back to his lips, "Alyssa...it's been an absolute pleasure." He hands you back to Leon and you almost sag with relief. "Tyler, you better keep a good eye on her. She's tempting enough to steal away."

You're still facing Leon when pulls you against his side and wraps his arm around your waist. On whim, you lean forward and place a small kiss to his cheek. Turning to you he smiles, "don't I know it." Ralph chuckles in response as Leon picks up his drink. "Gentlemen, it was a pleasure." The other men raise their glasses in cheers. "I'm assuming I'll be hearing from you?" he addresses Ralph.

Ralph nods, "I know how to contact you."

Leon nods, "I'm looking forward to it." Releasing you but taking your hand he leads you out of the restaurant. Leon's car was already waiting and you wonder if the staff were mind readers. Leon helps you in first and he talks briefly with the valet before getting in.

Once you pull away from the restaurant you sag back against the seat. You were tired, your feet hurt from your heels, you were still feeling the effects of all the wine you had, and you badly needed a shower with maybe a Brillo pad and some bleach to scrub whatever slime Ralph transferred on your skin. You sigh, "Leon, do you mind stopping and getting me a water?"

You look over to see Leon gripping the steering wheel tightly. Turning, he shifts roughly to get up to speed. "Leon?" you lightly place your fingers on his leg.

"What?" he snaps.

"I asked if you mind stopping to get me some water."

"Yeah," he says a little softer.

Leon pulls into the closest gas station and leaves the car running as he goes inside. You sigh out loud. 'Freaking men.' Leon comes back out moments later handing you a water.

You gulp a good amount of it down. "Thank you." Leon gives a short nod not looking at you. You could tell he was pissed and you decided to stay silent on the trip back home. Leon didn't even ask if you wanted to stay at your place and instead drove to his. 

Once you had arrived at his apartment, you had finished your water and tossed the empty bottle in the trash. You felt a little better but was still in dire need of a shower.

Leon undid his cuff links and practically ripped his jacket off, throwing in on the nearest chair. He was loosening his tie to undo the top button on his shirt when you spoke up. "What gives Leon?" Leon meets your questioning look with a stony expression. "Did you not get the information you needed?"

Leon's lips barely twitch. "When did you find out?"

"I saw Jack when I was dancing with Ralph. He was bringing drinks to a table."

Leon turns fully to face you, "are you upset?"

"No," you say with a shrug, "I wish I would've known so I could've been prepared. Like bringing my knife to cut Ralph's fingers off." You saw Leon's eyes darken. "So you saw that huh?"

"I kept an eye on you."

You nod, "I assumed so. That's the main reason I'm not upset. If I was going to be in any sort of danger, you would've told me. What did you find out?"

"Ralph's investments are mainly legit. The company I said that I wanted in on does aids research as well as sell medicine to hospitals. Their research on a cure for aids is a cover up for testing on the G virus. I don't know any more than that."

"So your partnership investment would allow you to gain more access to what they're doing?"

Leon nods, "exactly. If I can figure out who their contacts are, I can take it down from the source plus have a nice little list of the buyers to track."

"Will he trust you? It seems kind of risky to want in on the one investment that's hiding something."

Leon shrugs, "I'm not sure. I've portrayed Tyler as power hungry. Hopefully he buys into it. Ralph is the same way. Wants it, gets it, type of guy."

"Yeah," you say sourly, "he told me as much."

Leon looks at you sharply, "what did he say?"

"Nothing of any real importance." You look at the shadows of anger in Leon's face. "Stop getting so worked up. He wanted me to be with him. He said that you couldn't provide what I needed and he could."

"And you said?"

"That I would run away with him first chance I could." You smile as you see Leon's eyebrows furrow in anger. "No I said I was a big girl and could provide for myself. He didn't seem to like that answer."

"Is that when he grabbed you?"

You shrug, "maybe? He grabbed me plenty of times."

Leon's jaw moved as he clenched his teeth. "His hand was under your dress."

"I tried to pull away but he just tightened his grip. I told him he was hurting me and he looked excited about that before letting me go. After that was when he walked me back to you." You look at Leon's expression and his hands were subtly clenching and unclenching. "Why you jealous?"

Leon's eyes snapped to yours, "he shouldn't have touched you."

You scoff, "he had to touch me to dance with me."

"Not like that," Leon says in a furious whisper.

"Yeah by the way, do you happen to have a Brillo pad and some bleach? I want to scrub off the Hep C he left on my skin." Leon was far from amused at your joke. You found it funny though.

"The first chance I get, I'm going to make him suffer."

You sigh and walk towards him, the sound of your heels clicking on the floor brings his attention back to you. If anyone asks you were going to blame in on the wine, but honestly you just wanted the feel of Leon's hands on you again. 

You wrap your arms around Leon's neck pressing the lower half of your body fully against him. "As sweet as it is that you would defend my honor Sir Kennedy," you say in an English accent, "I believe that selling the G virus to those who will use it against the world is a much greater offense."

Leon struggles with his emotions before he finally gives in and smiles as his arms wrap tightly around your waist. You hum in approval. "Your accent sucks."

You give him a wide smile, "can you do better?"

"Of course," he says in his own accent, "as a highly skilled agent I'm a master of all things."

You shake your head, "I hope you never use that on an assignment. Your cover would be blown immediately."

He laughs lightly, "I wouldn't even try."

"You better now or do I have to do my English accent again?"

He shakes his head, "in that case, yes I'm better."

You lightly tap his back giving him an offended look. "It's not that bad. I've practiced forever on that accent."

Leon eyes you in disbelief, "you'll need another forever before you even come close."

"Ass," you say but didn't put any heat on it. Leon laughs lightly. You watch as his smile lights up his face. Wishing he was like that most of the time, you made the dumbest decision of your life without thinking about your job or anything else. You lean forward and catch Leon's lips with yours. Not feeling him kiss you back, you pull away. 

Leon's face was blank and you began to panic. "I um, I'm sorry, I shouldn't of..." you start to untangle your arms from around his neck, "I didn't mean to-"

Leon's hands splay wide on your lower back pulling you to him. "Shut up," he whispers before he finally kisses you back roughly. You make a surprised noise before your brain caught up with what was happening. You start to kiss him back when you feel his tongue touch your lips. Opening them, Leon deepens the kiss and you run your fingers shakily through his hair as your body grows hot. 

You had never made the first move but nothing else had made you happier. Leon kissed you like you were wanted, almost needed. Leon's hands traveled to your butt possessively as you felt him growing hard against your abdomen. You whimper as you felt all that heat from earlier travel between your legs. 

Suddenly Leon lets go and backs away. You look at him in shock. Leon's pupils are blown to hell and he's breathing heavy as you are. "We can't do this."

You swallow hard trying to bring rational thought back into the situation. "They don't have to know do they?" What rational thought. Leon drove every bit of that out the moment he kissed you back. You could still see the outline of his excitement through his well tailored pants. "We could surely be discreet enough to not attract attention to ourselves."

Leon's eyes travelled over you and he looked like he was fixing to give in. "It isn't them, it's us. It'd be too dangerous. If someone found out...they would use us against each other."

You press your lips in a thin line, "they could do that anyway Leon. Even if I didn't like you, I couldn't deal with you hurt."

"True but this would complicate things."

"Just because it would doesn't mean anything. Whether we act on this or not the feelings are still there."

Leon shakes his head, "Y/N, I can't. I can't risk it or you. I'm going to put a call in to request a reassignment."

"You're going to do WHAT?!" you almost shout.

"A reassignment..."

You saw red. Clenching your fists, you dig your nails into your palm, "listen here you little shit. I didn't spend all this time at the DSO training just for you to come along and decide that you're going to have me transferred out of the agency..."

"Y/N..." Leon tries to interrupt but you keep talking.

"I am sick and tired of all these men in my life taking over because they think they know what's best for me or they won't want me hurt. If you can't deal with whatever feelings you have for me, or at least put it away enough to focus on what we have to do for an assignment then that's your issue. I'll be damned if I let you transfer me out because you can't grow the hell up and get a handle on your emotions."

Leon sighs, "Y/N".

"Don't Y/N me. You better be glad you didn't tell me about your assignment cause if I had my knife with me, I'd be seriously close to stabbing you." You were shaking and pacing back and forth in front of Leon. 

"I don't want you to leave the agency."

You stop and give him a exasperated look. Like the ass he's always been, Leon didn't look a bit fazed at your rant. Instead he seemed more amused than anything. "Could you be clear for once?"

"I didn't mean reassignment as in leaving the agency, I meant reassignment as in having a new partner."

You immediately feel a sharp stabbing pain in your chest at his words. All the anger you had was immediately replaced by hurt. "Oh..." you say in a small voice. 'Jesus...he doesn't want me as his partner?' You try to hide your emotions the best you could. You didn't know if it was working or not though. "Do you have anything to drink?" 

"Becoming an alcoholic on me?" Leon asks studying you.

You don't meet his eyes and shrug in reply. Leon doesn't say anything but instead goes to pull a bottle of scotch out of a cabinet to pour you a drink. You sit down at the table and pull your shoes off. You rub the sore spot on your foot when Leon comes and takes a seat beside you with a glass for you and him.

You take a big gulp feeling it burn on the way down. It was almost enough of a burn to match the hurt that settled in pit of your stomach. You resist the urge to cough and let warmth of the scotch move through you.

"Feet hurt?"

You nod. Leon turns your chair towards him and grabs your foot. "What are you doing?"

Leon ignores your question and begins massaging your foot. Not finding the will to fight him anymore you let him and nurse the rest of your scotch. You replay the fight in your head. 'Did I seriously beg him to be with me?' You think back at your words and almost groan aloud. 'I did beg him! Needy much?! No wonder he's wanting a reassignment.'

It wasn't until Leon moved to your other foot when he finally spoke. "I should explain something and if you don't mind letting me finish this time...?" You give him a stony glare but keep your mouth shut. "Thank you. Let's say for example that we were assigned to gather intel. And somehow you were captured. Maybe you could be held as bait, maybe you were tortured for information, maybe they use you as leverage to get me to do what they want." Leon was still holding your foot, but he had a hard look in his eyes that was the complete opposite of how gentle he was massaging. "I couldn't say with absolute certainty that I would be able to focus on the mission leaving you to your fate. I could say that I would probably do whatever was necessary in order to get to you. I CANNOT risk an assignment in that regard. The assignment's always first, everything else is second. Do you understand?"

"I know," you barely whisper. 

"When Ralph touched you...he wasn't even doing anything to hurt you...I was almost out of my chair before I even thought about it. I've been working this intel for almost a year now. I about threw all of it away just because you were uncomfortable." Leon shakes his head. "I just don't see it working."

You scoff, "so I'm better off with another agent who isn't as skilled as you are? Seems like I'd have a better chance of staying alive..." you trail off pinching the bridge of your nose. "I'm sorry that's not fair. I'm just...you said you wanted the reassignment and I'm just...hurt." You give Leon a sad smile. "Even though I know the reason why. Forgive me?"

Leon gives you a sad smile back, "I know, damned if I do, damned if I don't."

"When are you going to tell them?"

Leon glances at his watch, "I may just send them an email...tomorrow."

You nod and pull your foot from Leon's grasp. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to take a shower and head to bed." You study his slouched posture. Leon was looking at the ground in thought. 

You crouch down to him and give him a kiss on the cheek. "You're a good man Leon."

Leon was gone by the time you got out of the shower. A scribbled note left on his bedroom door said 'went out for a moment. Be back soon.' Smiling to yourself, you found a pen and wrote 'K' on the same note and placed in the couch cushion. Dreading tomorrow, you begrudgingly go to bed.


	11. Chapter 11

In the morning you found that Leon was gone again. There was evidence that he had come back home since the note you left him on the couch was moved over to the side table. Shrugging to yourself, you make some coffee and walk around to find the thermostat. It was freezing in his apartment. Finally finding it, you crank the heat up as high as it would let you. Settling on the couch, you grab Leon's discarded blanket and wrap yourself up as tightly as you could while still making sure you could drink your coffee. The window beside you had frost covering it. 'We must've had a cold front come through.' It was technically fall now, which means you'd better start getting some warmer clothes out. You were pondering over how much snow you would be seeing here since the city was north of where you grew up, when Leon comes home.

He opens and closes the door with a huff and sets his bags on the counter. "Got anymore coffee?"

"Always," you say nodding towards the coffee pot. Which was rather dumb, since it's his apartment, he knew where the coffee is. Leon grabs a mug and warms his hands on the outside of it before drinking.

"You look...professional," you say in almost a question. Leon had a long wool coat over some dark khaki slacks. You could see the blue collared shirt you picked out for him peeking out from under the coat.

Leon pulls laundry detergent out from one of the bags. "I may or may not have let my laundry pile up."

You hum and smile into your coffee. "Anything else good in that bag?"

"Groceries. Cause my fridge has only beer and water." He opens his fridge up, "I lied, I also have mustard."

You snort, "at least you've got the essentials. But I have one question for you....why didn't you turn up the heat before you left?"

Leon shrugs as he puts the groceries away. Normally you would've moved to help him but you were just starting to get warm. After Leon was done he went over to the thermostat, "you put it on 90?!"

"It'll warm it quicker."

Leon eyes you, "that's not how that works."

"I have nothing to lose at this point."

Leon rolls his eyes but leaves the thermostat alone. Taking his coat off, he settles in beside you. 

"I really like that shirt on you," you muse out loud.

Leon turns his head towards you, "you did choose it."

"Yeah it really brings out your eyes, and your girlishly long eyelashes." You playfully bat your eyelashes at him.

Leon groans, "you're ridiculous."

"Not as much as those eyelashes. With some mascara, you'd be the envy of all the girls around the world. If this whole government secret service thing doesn't work out, you could model for Maybelline mascara."

"Please...I'm at least good enough for Urban Decay." Leon notices your blank stare, "It's a brand of expensive makeup?"

"Yeah," you say flatly, "I gathered that from context clues. I'm just surprised, even though I shouldn't be at this point, that you seem to know at least a little of everything. You make me feel sheltered."

"Aren't you in a way?"

You shrug, "I guess? I hadn't really thought about it."

"So I emailed Miranda," Leon says changing the subject.

Dread settled in your stomach, "and?"

"And she called me 10 minutes later."

You wait for Leon to continue but he stayed silent. "...well that's cool." Leon nods but still doesn't say anything. You huff, "are you going to tell me what was said?"

"She was reluctant at first but when I told her the reasons she approved the transfer."

'Great. So now my superior knows that within a week I developed a massive crush on my partner to the point where I am I liability. Great first impressions, Y/N. Way to go on creating an impact on your first job.' You sigh dejectedly.

Leon studies you, "I told her that I was beginning to develop feelings for you and I wasn't going to risk any complications that may arise from that. I also told her that I would be speaking with you today about the transfer, since you had no idea about any of it. She said that she would call you instead and say that the reassignment was based on their idea. Act surprised."

You give Leon a soft look, "you didn't have to do that."

"You're new," Leon says with a shrug, "although Miranda was taken back by the reasoning, she accepted it. If it came from you, they could've held it against you easier. Because of my tenure and reputation, it's seen as doing something responsible."

You sit in silence for a moment trying to gather your courage, "and us?" You grip your mug tightly.

Leon blows out a breath, "honestly? No clue. I moved too fast...especially last night. I feel like I should step back." You could almost see Leon flipping through all the reasons he should back off. "Thing is, I'm finding that hard to do."

By his tone, you felt like you should probably tred carefully. "I'm not trying to push here, but I would be sad if I didn't get to see you anymore. You've grown on me a little."

Leon studies you and somehow you knew that he understood everything you didn't say. "Yeah you might have grown on me too." 

"What now?"

He sighs, "now? Now I'll make you and me some breakfast. Then probably do a pile of laundry."

"Leon..."

"Let's just take this a day at a time. If you're ok with that?" 

'Not really.' You wanted to jump in with both feet without testing the water first. But Leon had a point, you had definitely moved quicker than before. Something about him just clicked with you. Thinking about it logically, it was definitely uncharacteristic of you. It's not like you had a ton of experience, only dating a few guys. Hell you haven't slept with any of your past boyfriends, only going as far as touching and heavy make out sessions. And there you were last night absolutely ready to jump into bed with a man you knew hardly anything about.

You glance at Leon who was patiently waiting on an answer. You knew he wouldn't push or fight you on whatever decision you made. That ultimately is what made this situation not seem so weird for you. You didn't know his whole past history or how he took his eggs in the morning, but it didn't matter. What made you want to take that leap is that everything about Leon screamed safety. You were safe with him, in any situation, no matter what. Plain, black and white, simple truth. 

"Ok, we can take it day by day...on one condition...you put on another pot of coffee."

Leon smiles, "I think I can manage that."

*********

The weekend seemed to fly by. That Saturday you two stayed in pretty much all day, with it being so cold. You two cooked, made fun of some action movies, and ended the night with a game of cards again. Leon almost beat you at poker this time. You insisted on going home that night in an effort to take things slower than you had but Leon talked you into staying one last time. You conceded without much of a fight. Belatedly, you realized that you have a hard time saying no and meaning it when it came to him.

The next morning Leon drove you to your apartment to let you change before going around the city. Thankfully, the cold front passed quickly and it was back to warmer days and colder nights. Driving by a car dealership, Leon quickly turns in. 

You hadn't really thought about it but you did need a vehicle. Jack couldn't always come get you anymore and with Leon not being your partner, you needed your own way to get to work. 

Leon gave you some much needed advice on what he thought would work best and let you pick from there. You settled on a pretty silver Audi A4. You stepped back as you let Leon deal with the salesman. You hide a smile as you watch the deal develop. Leon was expertly negotiating a price and the salesman, even though it was his job to do it to others, fell right into his own trap. After a couple of hours you walked out with keys to a brand new car almost $9,000 below the sticker price. 

After that, Leon deserved some dinner and you told him as much. He didn't disagree and you took your new car back home. Thankfully the parking garage for your apartments were behind the building so you didn't have to walk far to get to your car. 

You started on dinner that night as you waited on Leon to come back from the store. You weren't a professional chef by no means, but you weren't a slouch in the kitchen. You and Robert cooked together any chance you got. You decided on chicken fajitas and you made a comment about having some margaritas with it. Leon made a horrified face and left to presumably grab beer. You didn't ask since it didn't matter. It wasn't like he wouldn't come back.

Leon got back right as you turned the stove off. You started making a plate for him when you hear the rustling of the bag and see he pulled out margarita mix instead of beer. He almost looks sullen about it. You laugh and give him a lighthearted pat on the back and you set plates down for both of you. 

You had just taken a bite when Leon's phone rings. You watch as he instantly goes from relaxed to all business. He answers it with a few short words and hands the phone to you, "Miranda needs to speak with you."

Nodding you take the phone, "yes?"

"Y/N, Leon's been sent on an urgent assignment. I will need you to report to me first thing tomorrow morning."

You pause and inflict some surprise in your voice, "I'm not going?"

"No, there are a few changes I need to discuss but it can wait."

"Understood."

Miranda hangs up as you hand Leon his phone back. "I have to leave. I need to pack and be on a plane in a couple of hours."

You nod and start packing up his plate for him to take. "Where will you be?"

Leon shakes his head, "don't know. The President has requested to see me."

You nod thoughtfully as you hand him a bag containing his dinner. "Hopefully you can get a chance to eat." You eye him as anxiety rolls through you. 'Leon can take care of himself, he has before for several years now.'

Leon pulls you into a hug and you sigh against his chest. "Let me know you're ok, as soon as you can?"

He presses a kiss to the top of your forehead, "I will."

You give him a sad smile as he walks out. Looking around, it felt weird to be alone again. You picked at your food but soon gave up on it. Putting it away in the fridge, you drink both glasses of margaritas and settle down on the couch with your phone.

You typed and retyped mesages to Leon but there really wasn't anything to say. You were just worried and he hasn't even left yet. Erasing it, you give up and set your alarm. It felt like forever before you finally fell asleep.

********

That morning you were speaking with Miranda about the 'changes' the DSO were making that resulted in your reassignment with another partner. You felt like you acted surprised enough without being over the top. If Miranda suspected anything, you couldn't tell.

You met with Miller as usual, and trained a little with your new partner, Brandon. He was likeable, had a good sense of humor, kind of non-descript features, someone who blended in with the crowd. He seemed capable enough as well, had a level head on his shoulders, which you were thankful for.

That afternoon you were sent your first assignment. You were to steal info from a man named Alex Toussaint. He was a known arms dealer who ran a rather successful underground business. He recently became involved with a group of people that were suspected to be purchasing the T-virus. The DSO had reason to believe that the information he had could lead them to the buyers. 

You read and reread the files you were sent, trying to memorize as much of the information that you could. You looked over your plane tickets. You and Brandon were flying into Miami first. You were to report to local base there who would bring you to the Caicos Islands. Then it was on to Haiti where Toussaint was currently located. You were to copy all files from his computer and come back home. Sounded simple enough but you were stealing secret files from a Haitian arms dealer, not exactly an easy situation. At least Hunnigan was still your support.

You briefly wonder if Leon's been sent out on his assignment yet. He hasn't reached out to you, and you didn't dare text him just in case you compromised his situation. You instead packed and got ready to take a midnight flight into Miami.

*******

The next afternoon you were walking hand in hand with Brandon on the beach in Haiti. You two were here on the pretense of your honeymoon. If anyone were to ask you were visiting as many islands as you could within a two week span. That meant you had a max of 48 hours to get the info and get out.

You were subtly checking the house overlooking the beach that belonged to Toussaint when you hear Brandon's voice. "What did you say?"

"Everyone here looks sketchy. Like they're all up to something."

You give him a disapproving glance, "that's a little racist."

"It has nothing to do with how they look. It has everything to do with how no one seems to meet your eyes when talking to you." He's also keeping an eye on the house.

You walk in silence along the beach until you get to the other side of the house. "The garage may be our best point of entrance." Brandon looks at the building you were talking about. It was placed beside the room that contained the security system. 

The DSO had a man on the inside that worked security detail for Toussaint. From his account, Toussaint was meeting some people for dinner tonight. The laptop you needed was on the second floor in his office. It was situated in the middle of the home. 

The plan was to let the inside man take out the the guy in the security room and he would then lead you in safely and hopefully past any other security on patrol. The USB would allow Hunnigan access to his computer to where she could download the files, and all three of you escape and ride off into the sunset.

You snort. Things are never that easy.

"Let's head back. I think we've got all we need to," Brandon says with a smile. 

You nod as he throws his arm around your shoulders to lead you back to the hotel. 

*******

You check your set of silenced pistols for the hundreth time as you and Brandon are crouched behind some bushes beside the garage. It was unbearably hot even though it was late into the night. You could feel the sweat seeping through your clothes.

Hunigan voice sounds through your ear, "Y/N, Brandon, Agent Ortiz is making his way to the security room. I'll patch him in once he's done."

"Copy that," you whisper.

Brandon's keeping an eye on the guard pacing the balcony to your left. You two were hidden enough to where he couldn't see you as long as you remained still. The only problem was that the door you needed in was facing towards him in plain sight.

"The security room has been cleared," a man's thick accent fills your ear.

"Good job Ortiz," Hunnigan says. "Brandon and Y/N will move on your signal."

"You two hold still," Ortiz says as he's typing something in. "The guards on the balconies move in 10 minute increments to each side of the house. At their location change, I'll unlock the door for you to get in."

"Copy," Brandon replies readying his weapons.

You take a deep breath and wait. Sure enough, after a few minutes the guard goes back inside the house.

"Move now."

You and Brandon quickly make your way to the door and you hear the click of the lock release. Brandon shuts it back quietly behind him.

"Ok. You'll take the door adjacent to the one you just came through. It'll lead you down a short hallway that will open up into a kitchen. There shouldn't be anyone in there since Toussaint is out for dinner, but I'm blind in the kitchen area. Head straight to bring you out to the dining room. It is fully open to a sitting area that contains the stairs you need to get to the second floor. Wait in the kitchen until I tell you to move."

"Copy that Ortiz," Brandon says as he looks at you. "You ready?"

You press your lips into a thin line, "let's get this done and get out."

Brandon nods, "follow behind me."

Ortiz unlocks the door to lead you into the house. Following him down the hallway you make sure your safety's off as he slowly opens the door to the kitchen. True to Ortiz's word, it was empty. 

You copy Brandon as he leans against the wall next to the door you needed through. "We're in position."

"Good, wait for my signal." Ortiz pauses. "The guard here will move from the den into the study, which is closed off. Once you get up the stairs take an immediate right. Follow the hall down, it'll turn again to the right, the fourth door is Toussaint's office. The hallway loops and there are two guards there at all times."

Brandon nods over to you, "we'll have to take them out."

You were fixing to reply when Ortiz told you to move. You quickly make your way up the stairs and down the hallway. Before you turn the corner, Brandon stops you. He signals for you to move to the other side of the staircase to cover the other corner. You nod and move quietly to the other side.

"Brandon the first guard is halfway down the hall, Y/N yours just turned the far corner. The guard downstairs has come out of the study."

'Well shit,' you think. You quietly tuck your pistol back in your holster. It was silenced but the guard downstairs would probably hear a body falling if you shot him.

You hear Ortiz again as he warns your partner, "Brandon in 3...2..."

Brandon moves at the right time and gets the guard in a head lock while muffling his mouth. He waits until the guard loses consciousness before drawing his gun.

"Y/N, you'll be engaged in 3...2..."

You move quickly around the corner using the guard's surprise to your advantage. You grab his arm that was starting to pull his gun up and pull him towards you throwing him off balance. Grabbing your knife, you use the palm of your hand to push up on his chin and quickly cut his throat.

Blood squirted all over you and your face as you catch the guard and softly lay him down on the floor. You step away from the blood that was beginning to pool beside your feet. Sheathing the knife you wipe the blood from your face onto your sleeve and turn the corner to see Brandon waiting at the office door. The guard he dealt with was laying on the floor with a bullet in the side of his head.

You wait a moment before Brandon gives you the clear to make your way from the other side of the staircase towards him. Once you get there, Ortiz opens the lock for you. 

You make your way to the computer and put the USB in, "okay Hunnigan it's on you."

"Got it," Hunnigan replies as you hear her furiously typing. You start to see some files copying on the computer screen.

"You're still clear," Ortiz lets the both of you know.

You nod as you try to control your heartbeat. It was the first time you killed someone and you were determined to not freak out about it until you got somewhere safe. Doing it now could cost you your life.

A ding sounds over your earpiece. "Shit shit shit!" Ortiz panics. "Hunnigan, you've tripped a signal to Toussaint, he knows someone is copying his files."

"The files are erasing," Hunnigan says calmly even though you can hear her fingers flying over the keyboard. "I've taken what I can get. You three need to get out of there."

"Easier said than done," Ortiz says while loading his weapon. "An alert was sent to all the guards, they're closing in on your position from both sides. Stay alive, I'll make my way towards you."

You quickly grab the USB out of the computer as you hear multiple footsteps coming up the stairs.

"We need to hold them off at the door," Brandon says making his way to the front of the study. "We won't survive if they come in here."

"Right," you agree as you take point at the other side of the study door.

You hear footsteps outside the door slow down as you keep an eye on Brandon. He signals a countdown as you draw your weapon. 

At his signal, he kicks open the door and you quickly turn firing down the hallway. You hit two guards before you were forced to move back inside the study for cover. You crouch as fully automated rounds spray the doorframe beside you.

"Let's hope Ortiz is quick cause we won't last long against this," Brandon yells over the gunfire. He blindly shoots down his side of the hallway as you follow suit.

You replace your clip and keep on shooting until you hear the yells of the guards around you. 

"Take cover!" You hear Ortiz yell as you hear a metal object hit the floor.

Wide eyed you look at Brandon as he grabs your arm and pulls you further into the study. The both of you vault over the desk and Brandon flips it on it's side as soon as the blast goes off.

Debris crashes around you and your ears are ringing so bad that it's blocking out any other noise. Ortiz comes in view and you could see his mouth moving but couldn't hear him. He's putting the computer into a backpack as Brandon helps you to your feet.

Brandon says something and you nod like you heard him. You reload your gun and let him know you're good to go. Ortiz readies his weapon and the three of you start to make your way out. 

Brandon and Ortiz were basically shooting a path through the house as you kept a close eye behind you. Once you finally get outside, your hearing had somewhat returned even though the ringing was still there.

"Where's the extraction?" Brandon asks Hunnigan.

"A Seals team was deployed and is heading to your location. They're about 15 minutes out."

Ortiz shakes his head, "we don't have that. We'll have to meet them." Ortiz turns to the both of you, "down to the docks, there's jetskis."

All of you take off running towards to docks as the rest of the guards have spotted you. You climb on the back of a jetski behind Brandon as Ortiz takes the only other one. Brandon starts it up, "you're going to have to provide cover for both of us."

"I've got it!" you yell at Brandon as he takes off. The guards had grabbed a few of the speed boats and were quickly gaining ground. You were trying to hit as many of them as you could but the uneven water was making hitting them hard. Thankfully that meant hitting any of you was difficult too.

You could see Ortiz was turning and shooting behind him as much as he could. 

"Five minutes!" Hunnigan yells over your earpiece. 

A bullet hits the back of your jetski as you're reloading again. "Shit, Brandon turn the jetski around!"

"What?!!! Are you crazy?!!"

"Just do it dammit!!" You yell back at him.

Brandon didn't argue further and turned as quickly as he could back to your pursuers. You grab your other pistol and stand, taking aim with both of your guns at the nearest boat. You take in a deep breath and hold it while unloading your rounds as quick as possible to the boat speeding towards you. 

You hit the driver who falls on the wheel sharply turning the boat into the one beside it. It knocked that boat over dumping the guards into the ocean but the guards that were on the boat with the dead driver were still alive.

You get knocked over suddenly and barely register the sound of bullets whizzing by when you hit the water. Swimming as fast as you could away from the jetski you can see the trail of bullets through the water. 

You swim until your lungs were burning for air and you had to break the surface or drown. You come up as quickly as you could gasping before heading back into the water. You couldn't see Brandon anywhere near you and you prayed that he was fine as you kept swimming away. 

Coming up for air again you try to keep your head down as low as possible. You could see Ortiz in the distance still being chased by the last boat. You frantically check for any sign of Brandon, but it was cut short as a guard spotted you.

You dive as quickly as you can but you weren't quick enough to get out of the way. A bullet lodges itself into your thigh and you focus every ounce of energy into not expelling the air in your lungs. If you came up again, you were dead.

You swim away again ignoring the searing pain in your leg. Before you got too far, you see a huge beam of light filter through the water. 'Hopefully that's backup.' You break the surface to see a helicopter near your position opening fire onto the remaining guards.

"Thank god!" you say in relief to yourself as you start swimming towards the helicopter. Soldiers were dropping into the water killing the last of the them. 

You take a breath and dip underwater again to get to the helicopter quicker. But thanks to the spotlight you could now see. Which meant you could also see the sharks swimming around underneath you. And you were bleeding. 'Holy shit,' you think as you swim harder than you ever had before. 

You see a guard's body out of the corner of your eye falling slowly down to them. It caught their attention and they began tearing into his body instead of pursuing you. You break the surface for air just feet from a Navy Seal. "Sharks!" you yell at him. 

"Come on!" he yells back as you reach him and the both of you swim to the ladder hanging down from the helicopter. 

Climbing up was a challenge with your wounded leg, and the rope ladder swaying with each step. Not to mention, heights and you weren't exactly on the best of terms. You took some comfort in knowing that if you did fall, you wouldn't die hitting the water.

Coming up to the top a hand reaches out and grabs you to help you over. "I've got you," Brandon says with a grin. You move in to let the soldier behind you in. Moments later Ortiz comes up with another soldier behind him.

"All agents and men accounted for," a soldier tells the pilot. They bring up the ladder as the pilot heads back to the base. 

You sit heavily, your clothes making a squelching sound as you do. You check the bullet wound on your thigh as Brandon see it. "You've been hit!" he yells over the sound of the helicopter.

You press the aggravated skin around the wound, you could see the blunt end of the bullet. Hissing you start to try to grab the bullet but Brandon grabs your hands away from it. "You need to tie it up and wait until we get back to base. You might bleed out if you remove it."

"I'm fine" you yell but you quit messing with it. Brandon grabs the first aid kit from the wall and gets a tourniquet from the pack. He goes to put it on your leg but you stop him, "wait."

"But-" Brandon starts but quickly shuts up as he sees the bullet move inside the wound. Slowly it starts moving up and as soon as it clears the edge of the skin you grab it out. 'Well that's different,' you think studying the bullet. Of course you had never been shot before that wasn't just a graze.

Brandon swipes his thumb across the top of your now almost healed wound. He checks his thumb that now had pieces of the bullet on it. Your body expelled the rest of the shrapnel. Brandon gives you a hard look. "What the fuck are you?!"

You sigh and before you could reply he has a gun aimed to your head. Immediately the soldiers react and before you knew it, both you and Brandon were bound seated opposite of each other. You could get out of it but there wasn't any reason for it. "If you would've let me explain instead of trying to kill me-"

"Like I would believe anything you say!"

"Both of you shut up!" A soldier yells beside Brandon. 

You dutifully shut your mouth and rest back against the seat. The ride back wasn't too much further.


	12. Chapter 12

You throw yourself face first into your bed. You badly needed a shower but you were exhausted. You also knew you needed to file a report but it could wait too.

Once you were at base, you were released after the commander spoke with Miranda. She ordered Ortiz and Brandon back to the office. Brandon disappeared without a word to you but Ortiz said his goodbyes and you handed him the USB you were still carrying. Hopefully whatever info they got was enough.

You however headed home, after waiting almost 6 hours for a flight. You were only gone 2 days but it felt like a week. No wonder the DSO gives so much time off after an assignment.

Your DSO phone rings and you stretch across the bed to grab at it. 'Well maybe I won't get time off.' You raise your head slightly off the bed. It wasn't a number you knew. "Yes?"

"Y/N."

"Miller?"

"I heard your first assignment was successful. Congrats."

"Um....thank you?"

"Because of that, it has been decided that you no longer need formal training. I am being reassigned into the field."

You lay your head back down sandwiching the phone. "I bet you're excited. You don't have to spend all your time with a green recruit."

"I am ready to get back however you were hardly green."

You smile a little, "you're gonna miss me Miller."

"....I called to let you know myself that I was being reassigned, and so you could save my number. I want you to call if you need me."

You took a moment to be a bit surprised. In Miller's world, that was the nicest thing he could ever say to a person. "I KNEW IT! You are gonna miss me. Just admit it Miller and then we can go on like it never happened."

"No."

You chuckle into the phone, "thank you, really. I'll make sure to save it. I'll call if I need you. Are you going to save mine just in case you need me?"

You hear something almost like a cross between a growl and a laugh into the phone, "that would be a cold day in hell."

"What? I'm small, I can fit in small places. With those legs for arms I'm sure some days it's hard to wipe your ass."

Miller snorts, "we'll talk again."

You hear the sound of him hanging up but you didn't possess the willpower to move from your spot. You could feel the edge of the phone digging into your cheek but it wasn't painful and you could deal. 'I think I've reached a whole new level of laziness. I should get a ribbon.'

You were about to fall asleep when your phone rings again right against your ear. You jump and peer at the screen. Miranda. Answering it you lay it on your other ear. "Yes."

"Y/N, I'm presuming that you spoke with Miller?"

"Yes."

"Good, just as a reminder I will need your report by tomorrow afternoon."

You don't remember where you left your laptop. "I'll have it done."

"I also wanted to mention that we do have a couple of counselor's available to you, should you need them. They're all ex-agents meaning they've retired from the field so they would be understanding of what our agents go through. I will send you a list of their contact info. It will be confidential however due to the nature of our operations, I will know and so will Dr. Richter."

You briefly think about you slicing open that guys throat but quickly push that back. "I understand."

"Enjoy your time off."

You sigh and pick up the phone from your face and place it beside you. 'Nobody says bye around here.' Your phone rings again. 'Good...god.'

Not even looking at the screen this time you place it back on your face. "Yes." When it rings again in your ear you realized you didn't hit the answer key. You press the button, "yes?"

"Y/N don't hang up."

"Who is this?"

"Brandon...your partner?"

You snort, "you sure about that? I seem to remember you putting a gun to my head."

"No, you were hallucinating from blood loss."

"What do you want?"

"To apologize...and maybe hope that you don't request a transfer?"

You pause, "I thought you might have done that."

"Miranda explained the situation. I wasn't briefed on it before since this assignment came up last minute. I know now I overreacted." Brandon pauses waiting for a reply but you didn't have anything to say. "Can I make it up to you? How about I take you to lunch one day?"

"You don't need to make it up to me. What's done is done."

"No, let me at least take you out for lunch."

You press your fingers to your forehead. "I'm not mad at you, nor do I feel like you owe me anything."

"Come on....lunch....breakfast even, get you some coffee?" Brandon begs.

"We're still partners right?"

Brandon's voice sounds confused, "yeah I believe so?"

"Then we need to keep it that way. So no. I'll have to decline breakfast or lunch." You hang up the call. 

You can almost hear your inner voice calling you a hypocrite. Which is true but Leon's no longer your partner, and you didn't want Brandon getting any ideas if he even was in the first place.

Leon...you almost broke down and asked Hunnigan if he was ok, hoping she was supporting him. That however would've been out of line and highly suspicious. 

Your phone dings and you about throw it until you realize it wasn't actually ringing. Checking it, it was the email Miranda said she was going to send earlier. Still, you give up on resting to take a shower and apparently write a report. You groan all the way to the bathroom.

********

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. You got some more groceries, shopped for fall and winter clothes, on a whim you bought tickets to a play which was actually pretty good. Thankfully no one else had called. Well the person you did want to talk to hasn't called, so maybe you shouldn't say thankfully.

That Sunday you were sent on another assignment by yourself. It was a fairly simple one compared to your last one. It was just scouting to see who showed up and didn't for a meeting. Plus it was just a few states over so it was an in and out kind of thing. You were back by Wednesday. 

You had spent some time coming to terms with killing people. You knew it was just the job and it's something that you had trained for both in the BSAA and the DSO. You knew that it was important not to provide justification for their death. An officer at the BSAA taught you that. There will come a time when there won't be a justification and when you rely on that for comfort, it normally doesn't end well. You took it at what it was and allowed yourself a small breakdown and moved on. Those men wouldn't be the last.

Almost two weeks had passed before you finally got the call you were waiting on. You had stopped at a stand on the way home and had bought some fresh apples. With the colder weather a home made apple pie sounded amazing. You were peeling them when your phone rang.

Seeing Leon's name on your phone almost made your legs give out in relief. You answer it immediately. "Thank god."

"Y/N..." Leon's exhausted, cracked voice comes through. You didn't think you ever heard anything so amazing in your life. "I'm coming home."

"When will you be here?"

"Late tonight. I've got to escort Ashley home first."

'Ashley? Who the hell is Ashley?' you wonder trying not to be jealous. "Ok, I'm making some apple pie right now."

"Save me some?"

You chuckle, "will you call me when you get home? I want to see you."

"It'll be late, or early rather."

You shake your head even though you knew he couldn't see. "I don't care."

"You could always just go over to my apartment, you know?"

"And wait outside? No I'm good."

Leon lets out a weak laugh, "don't you know how to pick locks?"

"You want me to break in?"

"Is it breaking in if you have my permission?"

You huff, "whatever just don't shoot me if I'm there."

"I'll try to refrain, I've got to go."

"Ok." You say in the middle of him hanging up. You had never heard him so tired. 

Looking around at your apples, you decide to pack that up along with some other food to make dinner. Taking a few changes of clothes with you, you drive over to Leon's place.

*********

You had a small issue with getting in as a neighbor kept going in and out of his apartment taking the trash out. He had made so many trips you were starting to wonder if he had just been hoarding trash in there. Finally, he went back in for the last time and you were free to get into Leon's apartment. It had been a while since you picked a lock and it took you a couple of tries before you finally released the tumbler. 

Leon's apartment was freezing yet again. 'Does he ever turn up the heat?' Turning up the thermostat you peek into his bedroom. Even though Leon had left in a hurry, everything was immaculate. You checked the time and realized that it would still be a while before Leon was home.

You made dinner and baked the pie. All the leftovers went into the fridge. You settled down on the couch and decided to watch a movie to which you started dozing off to. It was 3am when you woke up checked the time. Leon still wasn't home. You finally give up on waiting up on him and go lay down in bed. 'He'll wake me when he gets here.'

*******

The sun was filtering through the blinds when you regained some sort of consciousness. Groaning you turn your back away from the light, and your hand hits something. Your eyes shoot open and the blurry image of someone is the first thing you see. You suck in a harsh breath as fear shoots through you before your brain finally catches up. Leon was asleep on top of the covers beside you.

Leon looked like he came home and collapsed immediately. He was lying on his back with his arm over his eyes. His feet were hanging off the bed which still had his boots strapped on. He was still in jeans and a tshirt. Not to mention dirty. You carefully move out of bed so you didn't wake him. Going to the closet you quietly grab the spare blanket out and lay it over him.

'This all will need to be washed.' Leon's skin and clothes were covered in a fine layer of dust and several splotches of mud and blood. You wrinkle your nose. This is the first time ever that he smelled. You smile gently at his sleeping form. You didn't care, he was home and alive.

You throw on some warmer clothes and slowly close the bedroom door so you didn't wake him. You go about your morning routine of coffee and made sure to make plenty extra for him when he got up.

It wasn't until almost 11am when you heard him stir in the bedroom. You were frying some bacon while making waffles in the iron you brought. Hearing the door open you watch as his half asleep form trudges to the bathroom. Smiling to yourself, you focus on finishing the bacon so you could make some eggs.

Once you were done, you hear the shower going and decide to strip the bed to put the sheets in the washer. You almost laugh aloud when you see an outline of dirt where Leon was laying. You were in the process of pulling the sheets off when you hear Leon walk in.

Smiling up at him, you quickly realized that he was hurt. Leon just had a towel wrapped around his waist which would've been exciting in any other circumstance. His ribcage had almost a band of black and purple bruising around it along with some deep red mottled spots throughout. He had several tiny cuts and bruises, but a large cut across his cheek. You couldn't help the gasp that escape your lips.

"It looks way worse than it is."

You walk up to him and lightly run your fingers over his ribcage. "Did you even get checked out?"

Leon hisses as you hit a particularly sore spot. "Not really."

"Leon Scott Kennedy!" You look up at him in concern. "They're broken."

Leon gives an almost imperceptible shrug, "more than likely."

"Try definitely," you chastise. "What the hell happened? I thought you were a good agent?"

Leon starts to laugh but stops in pain, "don't do that to me. It hurts."

You huff and grab the sheets from the bed. "Get changed, I'm going to get you some coffee and breakfast is getting cold. You're going to eat and tell me what happened."

You were walking out of the room and missed Leon's smile at your bossy tone, "yes ma'am."

*******

After breakfast you wrapped up Leon's ribs to help give him some support. You about insisted on him going to see Dr. Richter but broken ribs weren't something they could really do anything about. Leon did take some herbs to help numb the pain and help him heal quicker. 

Leon told you about the assignment he was on and how his old friend has kidnapped the president's daughter to infect her with a parasite to bring back to the US. You listened in horror as he recounts what happened as he was infected himself. Even though it was now well into the afternoon you decided you needed more coffee to get your mind wrapped around his story. Maybe even a stiff drink.

"So luckily I found the keys to a jetski and we made it out before the island erupted."

You sat back down heavily with your coffee, "you're sure the parasite is gone?"

"Yeah saw it die on the screen."

You rub your hands over your eyes, "well I'm sure Ashley is glad to be back home."

Leon lets out a light laugh, "I'm sure she is..." he says coyly.

You eye him suspiciously, "why'd you say it like that?"

He smiles and studies your face for a moment. "When we were leaving she asked me to come over to her place to 'put in overtime'," he quotes with his fingers.

You laugh, spitting your coffee out onto the table. "Oh my god!!!" You grab a rag to clean up as you're still laughing. "What a line! I mean don't get me wrong, on one hand I'm like 'that bitch' but on the other...holy shit I'm going to have to use that one day." You're still laughing as you realize that Leon's not. "Wait....did you?"

Leon raises an eyebrow at your question, "did I sleep with a trusted friend's, the president's, 18 year old daughter? No."

You sit back down at the table, "you weren't laughing, so I thought...well, it was funny to me at least."

"Yeah it is now." You shake your head agreeing with him. His reaction to that was strange but you didn't have time to dwell on it, when Leon asked what you had been doing.

You tell him about your assignment with Toussaint and the last easier one you just went on. Leon listened patiently as you recounted what happened, only asking questions on parts you didn't make clear.

You had glossed over the people you killed and stuck with the main parts of the story but Leon was almost always more perceptive than you gave him credit for.

"Who did you kill?"

You shrug, "I don't know. Some guard."

"Was he your first?" You look down at your mug and nod. "How?"

"I cut his throat. I was afraid that the guard downstairs would hear a body fall if I shot him, so...I was closer this way and I caught him before he dropped."

You can feel Leon's stare even though you weren't looking at him. "Killing someone for the first time is hard. Even more so with a knife. It's more personal."

You let out a breath as you meet his eyes, "I've come to terms with it. It won't be the last time."

Leon studies you for a second longer, "I'm proud of you."

You give him a questioning smile, "I'm proud of you too?"

"What you did wasn't easy."

You laugh, "easier than taking on a parasitic cult and getting infected, then cured, all while rescuing the president's daughter."

Leon smiles, "you mean a Tuesday?"

"Sometimes I can't believe how humble you are," you say sarcastically. "But I'm really glad you're safe. I would say sound but I saw those ribs."

Leon stands to put his plate in the sink, "yeah well, I don't have superhuman healing powers."

"Yeah that freaked Brandon out a little."

Leon looked at you in surprise, "he wasn't informed?"

"No, I didn't tell you about that last part. After we were picked up, Brandon was trying to tie a tourniquet on my leg where I got shot. But I stopped him and he watched as my body pushed the bullet out. He freaked and put a gun to my head but the soldiers tied both of us up until we got to the base. They let us go after speaking to Miranda."

You belatedly realize Leon's stormy expression. "He put a gun to your head," Leon stated flatly.

"He didn't pull the trigger..." you watch as Leon's eyes narrow in anger. "I mean there were other people there that did pull the trigger," you say lamely.

You see Leon's jaw work, "they were doing their job, HE is your partner. HE is supposed to protect you."

"You realize how screwed up that sounds right? They were trying to kill me and he was too at one point. Still the same thing."

"He's your partner, there's a difference."

"He didn't know. I bet you would be a bit suspicious if someone you just met did that. Cut him some slack." Seeing Leon still mad, you get up and throw your arms around his neck carefully. You didn't want to aggravate his broken bones. "Calm down, everything's fine. You don't need to put a hit out on him."

Leon lightly wraps his arms around you, "I wouldn't have to. I'm perfectly capable of taking him out myself."

"You know the DSO is bound to get suspicious if I keep switching partners at this rate."

You feel rather than see Leon's shrug. "They don't have any proof. They can be supicious all they want."

You laugh pulling away. Swiping the pad of your thumb across the scab on his cheek, you couldn't help put to press a quick kiss to it. "We're both ok. That's the important thing," you say with a gentle smile.

Leon hums in response, but instead of pulling away like you expected, he ducks his head and catches your lips with his. The kiss was pretty chaste compared to the last time but it was still enough to send your heart racing. 

Leon's phone ringing makes you pull away with a curse. "You better get that" you say gesturing to the bedroom.

"That would be your phone, so it might be odd if I answered."

"Oh" you say before racing to catch it before it stops ringing. You see Miranda's name briefly before you answer.

"Y/N you and Brandon have a new assignment. You'll have the details sent momentarily."

"Copy," you say hanging up first for once.

Coming out of the bedroom you give Leon a wry look. "I may have to leave in a bit."

Leon nods, "what are you doing this time?"

"I don't know," you trail off as your phone notifies you of an email received. You scan over it as you pick out details. "Looks like we got the name of the supplier from Toussaint's files." You finally get to the last page and groan.

"What is it?"

You sigh, "I'm going to Russia."

*******

You knew Russia in early October was going to suck. What sucked more was that because of the US/Russian relations and the remote location, the decision was made to sneak you and Brandon into the country. That meant another flight where you were up at the extremely early hours of the morning and ended with you jumping out of an airplane in pitch black foreign soil.

You were currently seated across from Brandon who was humming Queen. You sullenly envy his chipper demeanor as you check the straps on your parachute and your gear. Your mission was to kill all samples of the virus, copy and erase any information found as well as kill Luka Solokav, the supplier.

Solokav was from a middle class family who did what they could to make ends meet. He spent the majority of his life in Russia only leaving to continue to earn a master's degree in chemistry. He worked for a respectible company and gained a name for himself within his peers. Thanks to Toussaint's information, the DSO was able to place a lab hidden in Norilsk.

And thanks to Hunnigan's boundless knowledge, you now knew that Norilsk was the world's northernmost city and it used to be an industrial one. While still inhabited, the city's soil is highly polluted due to this. It was also sitting at a balmy -16°F with plenty of snow in the forecast. After this, you swore you would never bitch about Leon's apartment again.

Speaking of, Leon had given you some much needed advice in suffering through the cold. Wiggling your toes under your three pairs of socks, you contemplate if your virus would regenerate a part should you lose it to frostbite. You didn't want to find out but some sick part of you wouldn't let the thought go.

The pilot saved you from yourself as he told you and Brandon to get ready to deploy. They were bringing you 50 miles outside of the city, which is the closest they would risk. The only other soldier on the plane quickly checked over you and Brandon before opening up the door.

A blast of icy cold wind almost knocks you back. The several layers you had on weren't doing a damn thing in keeping out the cold and to beat it all, it looked like a white out with all the snow. You hated the cold. Already shivering you take your place behind Brandon. That same sick part of you from earlier helped by letting you know that if the parachute didn't open then you wouldn't have to worry about the cold.

You snap out if it in time to see the soldier counting down on his fingers before pushing Brandon out. Your stomach sank and you took Brandon's place. He would have to push you out too because no matter how many times you've done this before it still scared the shit out of you.

"I've still got you and Brandon in my sights." Hunnigan says in your earpiece.

Looking down, you couldn't see the ground which was a blessing. But the last thing you wanted was to land in the water somewhere. You were suddenly pushed from the plane, missing the countdown.

Your heart stopped as you tumble blindly into the air. Straightening yourself, you hear Hunnigan let Brandon know to release his parachute. After what seemed like a lifetime, she told you to do the same. The parachute deployed flawlessly and you focused on trying to see the ground that you would land on. 

Hunnigan started timing Brandon's landing to give him a better idea of when he was going to hit ground. You hear Brandon's grunt as he finally hits. "Watch out Y/N, it's there before you know it."

Hunnigan did the same for you and you landed without any issues. Unstrapping yourself from your parachute, Hunnigan sends you each other's location as well as the lab you were trying to reach. Wadding up the parachute as best as you could you replace it's pack with your gear. You bury both the parachute and its pack to hide any traces of it.

Brandon found you rather quickly. "At least these helmets keep the wind off your face," he says knocking the side of it.

"We gotta start moving," you reply. The quicker this was done, the happier you'd be. "I'm ready to go ahead and kill Solokav for just living in a place like this."

"Not a fan of the cold," Brandon says as he heads in the direction of the lab. "You can always put more clothes on than you can take off."

You shake your head as you take point, "I hardly doubt I could aim at my feet with the amount of layers I would need to be warm in this crap."

You both fall silent as you start the long journey to Solokav's lab.

******

It was almost sunrise before you reached the lab. It was situated on the outskirts of the city and the lab itself looked like every other abandoned building around it. You and Brandon were laying on the ground several hundred feet away. It was still snowing outside and since there were barely any trees, the best you had was to blend in with the snow.

"There's a broken window on the east side of the building. We'll have to enter there," Brandon says pulling the binoculars away from his face.

"Can we get there without being seen?" you look around but didn't see anyone.

Brandon shrugs, "I don't see anyone around. I don't know about inside though."

'Half the battle', you think to yourself as the both of you cover the remaining distance quickly. Coming up to the window that Brandon was talking about, you wait and listen for any sounds before pushing up on the frame. The window was unlocked and Brandon shrugs at your questioning look.

You climb inside taking off your helmet, "we're in the building."

"Alright, from what we can gather the lab should be under you. Unfortunately we don't have a way to tell you how to get there or a floorplan of the lab itself," Hunnigan replies.

"Copy," Brandon says as he's checking down the hallway. By the way he straightens you could tell everything was clear. He gives you the signal anyway and you follow.

Unholstering your gun you accept the comfort it gives you. It was eerily quiet inside the building. You and Brandon were walking lightly, trying to avoid any noise your boots would make on the floor. You were checking around a corner when you hear Brandon's voice, "bingo."

Coming up to him, Brandon was already sliding a keycard through a slot hidden behind a bookshelf. The bookshelf clicks and swings open revealing a set of metal stairs. Giving you a wide grin, he pockets the keycard and heads down first. 

The metal stairs ended into another door which took the same keycard. Brandon draws his gun and slowly opens it revealing a large circular room. There were huge metal doors all around it. You walk up to the closest one, 'Licker 43'. Suppressing a shiver you look at the next door, 'Licker 49'.

"Hunnigan," you whisper, "Solokav looks to be experimenting with Lickers."

"Oh no" Hunnigan pauses before making up her mind. "You and Brandon need to find his data. This could be exactly what we need to give us a leg up in combatting these threats."

Nodding you quietly cross the room to Brandon who was standing in front of the only door that didn't have a label on it. Your heart races as the door opens with a metal on metal scraping sound. You hear the lickers start to stir as Brandon quickly slams the door.

For once he looked a bit freaked out, before nodding to you to keep going. What was before you looked like a regular research lab. You were standing in a wide hallways that was open with glass windows. A faint sound reached your ears before you realized it was music. Giving Brandon a questioning look, you make your way down to the end of the hallway towards the sound. When you were right on the door, you could tell the music was blaringly loud and sounded like Russian rap.

Brandon had the same confused look on his face as he quietly opens the door. It was hardly needed since the music was deafeningly loud, you doubted anyone would've heard anything outside the room. Solokav sat with his back facing you as he was nodding his head to the beat of the music while typing away at his computer. He had a stand of samples next to him on his right and a tray of what looked like syringes.

With a quick look to Brandon, you quickly move up behind Solokav and place your gun to the back of his head, as Brandon moves at his right side aiming at him. Solokav jumps when he feels your gun and finally sees Brandon with his pistol on him. Solokav lets out a high pitched, ear piercing scream that easily can be heard over the music.

'What. The. Hell. This is supposed to be the guy that's selling the t virus to hardened criminals?' 

"Turn off the damn music!" Brandon yells over them both. Shakily Solokav hits a key on the computer and it goes blessedly quiet. You put a little bit of pressure on the back of his head while Brandon holsters his pistol.

Solokav says something in his native language before switching to surprisingly good English, "please don't hurt me."

Something about this didn't add up. You ease up the pressure on his head. "Who are you? What's your name?" 

"Luka Solokav, I'm a researcher," he says shaking in his chair. 

"Well Luka, a little birdie told us that you were selling the T virus to some shady people." Brandon says as he half sit on the edge of his table. "By the looks of you, I think the little birdie might've gotten something wrong. Care to fill us in?"

"No, no, no, I don't sell anything. My employer does. I just work with the T virus."

You briefly meet Brandon's eyes, "what do you do with the virus?"

Solokav starts to turn around to face you but you press the gun back to his head and he stops holding up his hands. "Please I don't want to die. I...I try different mutations of the virus to try to create stronger Lickers. I'm trying to find one that will be able to respond to commands. So far, I haven't been entirely successful, but I'm close."

"And who's your employer?" Brandon asks. "The one who's selling this?"

"I don't know." 

You shoot beside Solokav's feet making him scream again. You place the gun back on his head, "would you look at that Brandon? I missed, I better make sure that doesn't happen again."

"I swear! I don't know! I never met him. He calls from a blocked number. All I know is that he's American. I don't even know his name. He has me address him as sir. I promise I'm telling the truth! Please I don't want to die!" Solokav's shaking gets worse as he starts to have a panic attack.

"Calm down, breathe," Brandon says looking at you. You shrug. "Hunnigan, we're bringing Solokav in for questioning."

"No!!!" Solokav yells, "he'll kill her! I have to stay here!"

"Kill who?" you ask.

"My mother. He has her, that's why I'm doing this. If...if I get him what he wants, he'll let her go. I can't leave. He'll know that I'm gone."

"That's quite a pickle cause if you don't come, I'll have to kill you," Brandon says stonily.

Luka hesitates before answering, "I can't...I can't do it."

"Brandon grab the computer, we'll need the info that's on there," you say as you dig in the gun in. "Close your eyes and count to three for me Luka."

Brandon had just unplugged the computer when Solokav's phone vibrates on the table. All of you freeze. "Answer it, on speaker" you say to Solokav.

He slowly grabs it and answers, "yes?"

"It seems like we have company. You know I don't like visitors."

"What?" Solokav tries his best to sound surprised but failed miserably.

"What ever shall I do?" the man muses aloud. You can hear a door being opened over the phone and a muffled sound before a woman's scream can be heard.

"Mother!!!!" Solokav yells. The woman's scream is cut off by the sound of a gun firing. "NOOOOO!!" 

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to terminate your employment Solokav." The phone hangs up as the power is cut off and the emergency lights come on. 

"I think our time may be up," Brandon says distractedly as he zips up the computer. "We need to leave Solokav." He was openly crying now and you remove the gun from his head. "Come on." Solokav didn't move.

You move around to the front of him before speaking. "Look, we need whatever information you can give us. If you want revenge, coming with us is going to be the best way to get back at him for killing your mom."

"We can't leave, we won't make it," Solokav says through his tears. A loud bang echoes down the hallway. It sounded like a grenade went off. "Did he send a team to kill us?"

Solokav closes his eyes briefly before meeting yours, "no he opened the doors keeping the lickers."

"Shit" Brandon says as he comes next to you. "Is there any other way out? Maybe ventilation?"

Solokav shakes his head, "no this place isn't very big, there wasn't a need. The only way out is the same way in."

You had no choice then, "Hunnigan looks like we've gotta escape running."

"I've already sent someone to come get you, but they'll be an hour out still." Hunnigan sends a file to your phone. "We'll reset the evac point to this location."

"Can you close those doors?" Brandon asks her.

"I can try," as Hunnigan starts typing.

"Come on Solokav," you say pulling him to his feet, "you need a coat."

Solokav turns white as a sheet, "we can't go through there! We'll die in seconds! There's 21 Lickers that are roaming that place, not to mention some of them are enhanced. Greater speed, agility, deductive reasoning skills, we won't have a chance."

"We don't have a choice. We can't stay in here." You were trying to get a scared shitless Solokav to see reason, when you hear another loud bang like before.

"I've shut the doors, I hope that helps you." Hunnigan says to you and Brandon.

"If some of the Lickers stayed in the room then maybe we won't have to deal with all of them," Brandon replies to Hunnigan.

You nod in agreement when a thought comes to you, "Solokav, how did you inject the Lickers with your experiments?"

"I-" Solokav gives you a strange look, "a needle?"

You give him a hard stare. "I mean how did you do that without dying?" 

"Drugged. Like a sleeping gas, it makes them weak and slow to move." 

You meet Brandon's eyes and grin, "got enough for 21 of them?"

Solokav nods, "in the lab down the hall. I only have one mask though."

"We'll figure it out," Brandon says as he all but pushes Solokav out the door.

Solokav had a bunch of glass vials that contained a purple liquid which he said was the sleeping gas he used on the lickers. The plan was to take every last one he had, crack open the door, and throw it inside. Solokav explained that the liquid turned into a gas when exposed to oxygen and would take about 10 to 15 minutes to work, but only lasted for that long as well. He said with the enhanced lickers, it would be closer to five minutes, if that long.

Brandon volunteered and you watched from the lab door as he quickly opens the door, the scraping metal making another horrendous sound drawing the lickers attention. Tossing the vials in he quickly slams the door shut as you hear the lickers slam their bodies against it. Brandon lets out a breath before turning to you.

"Did you see how many there were?" you asked.

"More than I would like." Brandon sets a timer on his watch. "We wait, tiptoe our way past these bastards and get the hell out of this place."

You nod going back to Solokav, "is there anything else we need to take? Anything that could be useful in finding your ex-employer?"

Solokav shakes he head while he's zipping up his jacket. "My phone, the computer, all of it is there."

"I guess it'd be too much to hope that you have a car parked outside huh?" Brandon asks him.

Solokav sighs, "he'd always send someone that blindfolded me and drove me here. I can tell by the stench in the air that we're in Norilsk. But where, I have no idea."

You nod, taking the gas mask off the wall. "Take it Solokav, we can make it through without it."

He nods, "hold your breath as long as you can. It doesn't take much before it works on humans. I dropped a vial once here in the lab and was out in under a minute, woke up two hours later."

Brandon makes a noise as he pulls he gun back out. You grab both of your pistols just in case. "I'll take point. Solokav you stay between myself and Y/N."

He nods and follows Brandon toward the door. "All this crap and you can't WD40 this thing?" Brandon chides. Solokav doesn't reply. Brandon sighs and pulls open the door yet again. You both take a deep breath before heading in.

A haze of the gas is lingering in the room as the three of you are quietly starting to make your way across. The lickers are all on the ground. Some of them are still moving around, very slowly, and a faint hissing sound can be heard. Brandon weaves his way in between them, taking care not to touch any of them. Your heart was in your throat as you step in between two that was inches from your legs. To Solokav's credit, he was keeping his breathing quiet even though he was shaking as he walked through them. 

Somehow you made it across the room with no incidents and once through the door sucked in a lungful of new air. You were holstering one of your guns when you hear the click of a few pins. Turning you see just as Brandon throws something in the room and slams the door shut. "Run!"

You push Solokav up the stairs and back out inside the abandoned building. You feel the ground tremble beneath your feet as the grenades go off. You look at Brandon accusingly as he catches up with you. "That wasn't smart."

"We got to get to the rendevous point." Brandon says ignoring you. Coming to the front door, he stops. "We'll have to jog there if we're going to make it in time. Hope you've been doing your cardio Solokav."

Solokav was still breathing heavy as he takes off his gas mask. He gives Brandon a thumbs up. You were doubtful he was good. Brandon nods as he sets a steady pace out of the building and back into the Norilsk weather.

Jogging up by Brandon you repeated yourself from earlier. "What if you blew a hole where the Lickers escape? They would be set free to terrorize this town. You should have waited and let Hunnigan call in a team to take care of them."

"Our orders were to destroy any evidence."

"No our orders were to destroy any samples of the virus! What you did was kill a few and possibly release the rest," you angrily look at him. "You better hope to god that I'm wrong."

Brandon doesn't reply and you drop the subject. Taking one last look at the building, you were hoping that you were wrong.

*****

You finally make it to the extraction point. Solokav was a bit worse for the wear, practically heaving as he collapsed in the snow. You let him lie where he was. He didn't complain and kept up for the most part. 

"What's the status on evac?" Brandon asks Hunnigan.

"Ten minutes tops, we're almost to you."

"Copy" Brandon says as he takes off his pack.

You rub your hands over your face to try to bring some feeling back to it. It was still snowing out and the sun filtered through the haze of the clouds but was doing nothing to help warm anything up. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Brandon stiffen. You turn around to see six lickers padding across the snow heading towards you. You grab your gun and crouch down to Solokav lightly pressing your hand to his mouth. His eyes shoot open as you bring a finger to your lips and quietly help him up. "Can you use a gun?" you whisper faintly.

He gives you a firm nod, "Russian" he whispers back. You press your pistol in his hand before grabbing your other one. Looking over at Brandon you want to put a bullet in a leg with an 'I told you so' but instead settled for a hard stare. He presses his lips together getting the message before nodding back to the lickers.

You aim at the closest one and wait. It comes to a sudden stop as the others stop half a foot behind it. The one in front was a different color. You assumed it was one of the advanced ones that Solokav had mentioned. It seemed to look around before raising it's head up to the sky. 'What is it doing?' You watch as it slowly brings it's head back down facing you. It starts making a soft clicking sound before heading your way. Brandon suddenly opens fire and you're quick to follow suit. "Stay behind me!" You yell to Solokav.

He nods but shoots at the lickers too. One of lunged at you as you drop and kick Solokav's legs out from under him. The licker flew over his head inches from him. You quickly aim when it lands and turns back, putting four bullets in it head before dropping. Reloading, you turn back to see Brandon killing one while another was coming behind him. You unload your clip into it when you feel a stinging graze on your arm. You turn to see a shocked expression on Solokav's face. "Don't kill me! Kill them!" you yell.

Belatedly you realize Solokav wasn't looking at you. Turning you come almost face to face with the enhanced licker. It was stopped in front of you sniffing before it started making those clicking sounds again. 

"Take cover" you hear a man yell into your headset. Not questioning it you take off in a run seeing a helicopter coming up on your position. It starts raining a hail of bullets onto the lickers as you run towards it. The enhanced licker somehow dodges the bullets quickly covering the distance you had gained. Firing behind you, you manage to hit a few shots into it's exposed brain. You keep pulling the trigger until you hear the empty click of the gun. Reaching for your magazine you find that you don't have it anymore. "I'm out!" You yell into your headset pushing yourself to run faster. 

The helicopter was still shooting while coming down to land. Hunnigan still had the pilot patched through and he turned so he could hit the licker behind you. You turn your head so you could check to see how close it was to you. The licker was airborne and you had no chance to react as it's body slammed into yours sending you tumbling across the ground with it.

The world spun a few times before coming to a complete stop, and all you could see was the underside of the lickers belly. "Y/N!!!" Brandon yells in your headset. The licker hears him and starts hissing as he turns to look for the owner of the voice. 

Your heart stops as the licker bends down to your chest sniffing before clicking at you. "She too close for me to open fire," the pilot says.

"Y/N, run I'm almost there," Brandon pants. You couldn't run, the licker had you caged in under it. "I can't I'm stuck," you say as the licker lowers its body onto you. You hold your breath waiting for it to attack but it never came. If anything, it seemed to be protecting you. The licker nudges your arm clicking at you. "Oh...ok...I, Brandon get Solokav and yourself onto the helicopter."

You move slightly to get your knife. You slowly start to flip onto your belly as the licker raises up a bit to allow you to move. Clicking again, you could see Brandon shove Solokav into the helicopter before aiming back at the licker. You start a slow crawl as the licker nudges you gently. Coming out from under it, you slowly stand and take a tentative step to the side. You turn back with your knife held between you. The licker was still standing there facing you, like it was waiting.

Brandon took that opportunity to open fire causing the licker to let out a scream and start to charge him. Brandon emptied his magazine and was reloading before you started running after the licker. Knife still drawn you were readying yourself to jump on it or do something when Brandon got a shot off at point blank range, finally killing it. The licker still knocked into him, slamming him into the helicopter. Moments later you got there and with much difficulty dragged the licker off of him.

"You ok?" you ask checking him over.

He groans holding his back, "yeah but I'm going to need a chiropractor." 

You nod trying to catch your breath as you make eye contact with Solokav. He was wide eyed with fear but sat still as could be in his seat. "We need to get this licker off the helicopter," you say to Brandon. He nods and helps you drag it off, rolling it off the side. You signal the pilot the all clear and collapse into a seat yourself. Sheathing your knife you realize Solokav is still staring at you. "What?"

Solokav lets out a half crazed laugh, "what? All that happened and you ask ME what?! It didn't attack you...it didn't even try. Exactly what the hell are you?"

You give a tired shrug, "honestly? I have no idea anymore."

Brandon looks sideways at you, "well you would've been dead otherwise so I wouldn't question it."

"I would have questions if it were me," Solokav says in amazement.

Brandon shuts his eyes, "no one cares what you think Solokav."

You copy Brandon, liking the idea of a quick nap before getting back. "Y/N I'm just on your line..." Hunnigan pauses, "we should talk when you get back. Just me and you." You clear your throat in response. "Ok, I'll call you. Good job today." You smile as you hear her click off. Letting out a sigh, you stretch your legs out to get comfy for the remainder of time.


	13. Chapter 13

Hunnigan wasted no time in meeting with you. You had just arrived home when she called stating that she was on her way to your apartment. You didn't even have the time to change or shower before she got there. You were currently sitting across the table from her as she was gathering her thoughts.

"First of all great job on the last assignment. Solokav will have some much needed information to prepare us for the growing threat to our world."

She pauses and you nod at her to continue. Hunnigan meets your eyes briefly and looks down at her lap. "I wanted to tell you that you need to be very careful on how you write up this report. What happened out there, with the licker not attacking you, that something the DSO and any other agency would be highly curious about. I've heard stories about their...curiosity. I don't want that to happen to you."

You search Hunnigan's eyes, "Brandon has to write up a report as well. Even if I was careful on mine, it could be in his."

"I wouldn't worry about Brandon's report. I'll make sure it gets left out or altered," Hunnigan says harshly. "After what happened, he may be reassigned anyway, we'll see."

You let out a breath, "I don't want you putting your job on the line."

"I can handle myself."

You give her a surprised smile, "...yeah, I believe you can. As far as Brandon, he made a mistake. He thought he was doing the right thing. It just didn't work out like he had planned."

"That's the nature of it unfortunately. When they review the reports they'll take in his side and yours. However, they won't look so kindly on releasing BOW's when they were contained. I'm not saying that he definitely will, but it's a possibility."

A knock sounds at the door and you give her a questioning look. She shakes her head and silently gets up moving to the far side of the room out of view. You grab your gun and place it almost against the door, aiming through it to the hallway. You unlock the door with your other hand and pull it open, ready to fire.

Leon's form is barely registered as all in one motion, he pushes into your apartment, grabs your neck to bring you into a punishing kiss, and wraps his hand around your wrist that still had the gun. You make a surprised noise against his lips when you hear him kick the door shut and gently pull the gun out of your hand. You weren't kissing him back out of shock but all that changed when you felt his hand snake around your waist as he pushes his tongue against your lips. You briefly wonder where he put your gun but you part your lips, tongue meeting his, and it went as quickly as it came. It's all slick heat and nothing but Leon as your senses become overwhelmed. His kisses were possessive, almost dominating, and you weren't one to back down so you matched his fervor. You let out a small whimper as he deepens the kiss and you grab his shoulders for support. You were starting to run your fingers through his hair when you feel Leon stiffen and stop kissing you. He was reaching for a gun when he lets out a breath. "Hunnigan," he states matter of factly.

'Shit Hunnigan!' You lean your forehead against Leon's chest. 'How the hell did I forget she was here?' You turn your head slowly, still being caged in by Leon, and give her a guilty look. Hunnigan had a knowing smile on her face.

Embarrassed that Hunnigan had just saw and heard all of that you turn back to Leon who was loosening his hold on you.

"Your secret is safe with me, don't worry you two," Hunnigan says.

Leon humphs but you tell he was saying thanks. "I didn't expect you to be here."

You pull your gun out from where Leon shoved it in the band of his pants with a wry look. You set it on the counter when Hunnigan walks up to the both of you with her arms crossed. "You didn't? I figured you would of since I did tell her that I wanted to meet with her alone."

You look at Leon in surprise as the beginnings of a smile was starting to show on his face. "Caught me."

Hunnigan nods, "knew the exact moment you patched in."

You stare accusingly at Leon, "you were listening in on my assignment?" You turn to Hunnigan, "and you let him?"

She shrugs, "I almost cut his connection, but I've known him a long time. He's never patched in on anyone. I got curious. So I let him stay on. I guess the question is why did he do it?" Hunnigan smiles at Leon, "I guess I have my answer. It did seem odd that the DSO didn't keep you two as a team. Even though they gave a good reason for it."

"I don't trust this Brandon guy. Especially since he pulled a gun on her." Leon looks over at you as you throw your hands up and go to the fridge. 

This wasn't Leon's place and you didn't have any beer. Coffee it was then. "Anyone want a cup?" you say with your back turned to the both of them. 

"It's the afternoon," Hunnigan replies with a questioning tone.

You scoff, "I have no alcohol. Coffee doesn't require a certain time for consumption."

"Right," Hunnigan says as you hear her grab her keys. "I've got to get back. Send me that report if you want me to look over it first before Miranda gets it. Or you can have Leon help you with it if you're not too busy doing other things."

You turn, about to reply, when you see her lightly squeeze Leon's arm with a smile. Leon nods at her and she looks at you briefly before meeting his eyes. It seemed like they were having a silent conversation. A moment passes and she grins and pats his arm before walking out your door.

"What was that about?" you ask Leon.

"Nothing," he says quickly before coming up behind you. He wraps his arms around your shoulders resting his chin on the top of your head. You slightly lean back against him enjoying the comfort. "You smell." Leon states above you.

You eye your clothes the best you could without moving your head. "Yeah well that's what happens when you get licker juice on you...plus I still have a lot of layers on. I'm starting to sweat."

Leon makes a noise and falls silent as you both watch the coffee start to brew. "They haven't sent you on another assignment yet?" 

"No," Leon says, "I think they'll give me some time especially since I was gone for a while."

"How's the ribs?"

"Not broken anymore. The herbs work wonders."

You nod, "so Hunnigan...I'm sure she won't say anything. She doesn't seem like the type."

"No she won't. If I thought she would. I would've never tapped into her line."

"Yeah about that," you say moving to turn to face him, "how dare you." Leon laughs at your expression. "I was worried about you when you were MIA rescuing Ashley and I never tapped into Hunnigan's line."

"Do you know how to?" Leon asks still smiling.

"That's not the point," you say smiling back.

"Ah...well I got you a gift to make up for it." Leon reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small jewelry box. He presses it into your hand. "It's not a ring."

You look at the ring box, "it looks like it should be a ring." Pulling the top off you find a lilac colored key. You bring it closer to see a small outline of a feather etched into it. Picking it up out of the box you hold it up to Leon. "What's this?"

"A key," Leon replies dryly. "To my apartment specifically." Leon sees the surprise register on your face. "Does it ruffle your feathers?"

The realization of the design finally hits you and you laugh smacking his arm. "You idiot. Of course you would do that. But I don't need a key."

"Well no, but this way you won't have to break in like some kind of animal."

"An animal?!" you say in feigned offense. "You told me to break in! I left you pie!"

"Yeah it was delicious by the way. There's no leftovers...you should make another one." Leon smiles sweetly at you. "Please?"

You scoff but turn away before he could see your smile, "we'll see." You set the key down on the counter. 'He said take it one day at a time. But then he gives me a key to his apartment. So what the hell?'

He starts peppering kisses on your neck bringing goosebumps to your arms, "pretty...please?" You swat at his arm as he pulls away. "Yeah not to be mean but you need to shower."

You laugh, "I know. But you should've smelled you when you came home from Europe. You had two weeks worth of stench. I only have a couple of days."

Leon moves beside you enough to where you can see him wrinkle his nose. "You lie. I always smell good."

You shake your head while pouring a cup of coffee for the both of you. You eye him over the rim of your mug. "Thank you for my gift," you say tentatively.

Leon nods, "you're welcome."

You wait to see if he elaborates but of course he stays quiet. "I thought we were...you know...going slow."

Leon takes his time about drinking his coffee. He lets his eyes linger across different parts of your face. You were about to start word vomiting from nervousness before he finally answers. "If you haven't noticed, I've had a hard time keeping my word when it comes to you."

You smile and blush faintly over your coffee, "yeah well it seems I have a tendency to become a bit...shameless?...when you're around."

Leon looks at you openly, not hiding the heat in his eyes. "Wanna come over? I'll cook us dinner."

You bite your lip, 'holy mother of god what am I getting myself into?' You see Leon's eyes dart to your lips before meeting your eyes again. "Yeah, I do. But I'm showering here first. I like your smell on you, but not on me." Leon's expression turns blank. "I mean, I don't care if it's on me. Like when I sleep over I always smell like you after cause of your sheets but I don't want to smell like you. Not that you don't smell amazing, but I mean like your body wash." You force yourself to stop talking. Leon laughs and you groan. "I'm no good at this. You know what I mean."

Leon plants a quick kiss on your forehead, "go shower you weirdo."

You huff setting your coffee down. "Fine."

*********

Back at Leon's place you settle down after dinner with your laptop prepared to write your report. Your fingers hover over the keyboard as you draw a blank. How were you going to explain how you got away from the lickers without saying that they didn't attack you? Running through different scenarios you come to the conclusion that saying you had killed the enhanced one before you ever boarded the helicopter was probably the best bet. But there were too many people. Solokav was now in government custody, probably being questioned right now. So even if Hunnigan was able to alter Brandon's file, she'd never be able to alter Solokav's testimony. And by Solokav's reaction to what happened, you hardly doubted that he would keep his mouth shut about it. Maybe you should just tell the truth and let the pieces fall where they may. Hunnigan may be overreacting. You inwardly snort. You've never seen Hunnigan overreact. She may be the most level headed person you ever met. Well maybe besides Robert. 

You grip the top of edge of your laptop in frustration. You look over at Leon sitting beside you quietly. He has an almost empty glass of scotch in his hand. He was leaned back comfortably, his eyes closed, relaxed.

Then there's him. Were you together? He said take it slow. But he never asked you out either. Maybe it didn't need to be said. Maybe in his mind you just were and that's that. Still. It would be nice to have some sort of confirmation. Leon didn't seem like the multiple women type. Casual maybe. Hell what you were doing was probably casual. Well no, you correct yourself, casual didn't equal having a key to his apartment. 

Why were you so wound up about this? You agreed to what he suggested and you were fine with it...for the most part. It's not like you didn't spend any free time you got with him. You were in his life as much as you could be. Then maybe you might be a bit clingy for him. Well if you were then he was too cause you didn't even call when the mission was over. He only knew to come over because he had tapped into your line. If anything he sounded like a stalker. Not like you minded that much.

So really why were you upset? You close your eyes and release a deep breath. It was time to stop making excuses and lying to yourself. You wanted him. Plain and simple. You wanted him around. You wanted to come home to him. To know how he took his eggs in the morning. To know if he hogs the covers at night. He was infuriating and surprising, and...addictive. 

You eye Leon's long fingers holding the glass, his thumb barely moving back and forth across the rim. Your reaction to him was like you were hitting puberty all over again. It was insane for you. You didn't go from meeting someone to wanting to jump in bed in a week, and yet you would've. You wanted to say it was the job. It's dangerous as hell and you never knew when it could all come to a screeching halt from the barrel of a gun. But in the spirit of not lying to yourself anymore, the job didn't matter. You were very quickly falling in love with him and you hoped that the same was happening for him. Cause if not, it'd be really awkward to say the least. What if it was one of those whirlwind romances? Where everything happens so fast and then it just dies out as suddenly as it came. You groan to yourself. God, you hoped it wasn't that.

"You're going to break your screen if you keep thinking like that," Leon says making you jump. 

Your laptop screen was being bent by how tightly you were gripping it. You release it, but you weren't worried about the laptop. You were more worried that somehow Leon heard what you were thinking. "Was I talking to myself?"

He shakes his head, "you didn't have to. I could almost feel the frustration. You're over thinking it."

You give him a bland look, "you don't even know what I was thinking."

"I might," Leon turns his head to you, "I know it's not that report."

Nervousness drops in your stomach. It's not like he can read minds but he might as well be able to as perceptive as he is. But there wasn't any indication you gave that would let him know that you were thinking about your relationship with him. "Is that so?"

Leon hums as he swallows down the rest of his scotch, placing the glass on the table beside him. He reaches over and closes your laptop, dropping it beside your feet.

"Leon! What if I didn't save that?" you protest as Leon moves your legs onto the couch and pulls you to where you're laying down.

Your mouth goes dry as he moves above you pushing the hair away from your face. "It's called autosave. And I didn't close out of your report."

He was stalling, giving you ample time to say no if you wanted to. There was no way in hell you were going to stop him. In fact, you grab a handful of his shirt, pulling him down towards you. Leon stops himself inches from your face searching your eyes. Smiling gently you raise your chin up waiting for him to close to the distance. That was apparently the last nudge, he needed. Leon finally kisses you as he lowers some of his weight onto you, pressing you in the couch. You hum your approval as you move your leg, to let him sink in between yours, and wrap it lightly around his leg. Leon apparently approved as well because his kisses started to get more urgent, more heated.

Between Leon weight pressing you down, and the taste of scotch on his lips, you barely register his arm as he wraps it around the small of your back. You were more focused on returning his demanding kiss with one of your own. You greedily run your fingers through his hair, and on a whim slightly pull on the strands. Leon groans as he pulls away from your lips replacing them on your neck. He grabs the other side of your neck using his thumb to force your chin up, while the arm around you pulls you closer to him, bringing you slightly up off the couch. Your breathing becomes erractic as Leon kisses his way up to your earlope and back down to the base of your neck. Leon suddenly bites down a little roughly where your neck meets your shoulder and you let out a half surprised, half turned on gasp. Leon chuckles as he releases your neck to run his hand down your arm, feeling the goosebumps he brought up. "I had a feeling," he mumbles against your neck as he places a soothing kiss to where he bit you.

'Glad someone did, cause I had no clue,' you thought to yourself. You would've never guessed, although it's not like you had sex with anyone before. Leon commands your attention again as he pulls you up onto his lap as he leans back sitting against the arm of the couch. He has a firm grip on your thigh as you lean forward, ready to make out with him again. He stops you by placing his hand on the side of your face. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, he runs the pad of his thumb across your lips. "Now would be a good time to say no."

"Say no," you state plainly. He was giving you another chance to back out. It seemed like most girls are nervous when they lose their virginity. Looking at Leon, you couldn't find a reason to be. You trusted him. That's all that mattered to you. Plus you kind of knew what to expect, there was no shortage of porn with hundreds of teenage boys around. Although, you should probably let Leon know that you hadn't slept with anyone.

You lean forward giving him a sweet kiss. You hesitate as you search his face, a little nervous to say it aloud. You didn't know if he would reject you or what he would think about it. "I, uh, guess this would be a good time to tell YOU that I...um...I'm a...virgin?" You ended your sentence in almost a question due to nervousness.

Leon's eyes widen in surprise as you feel his grip lessen on your thigh, "seriously?" 

You sheepishly nod. You couldn't tell if he was just surprised or maybe was now rethinking the whole situation. You could see the wheels turning in Leon's head and you chew on your bottom lip waiting on him to say something.

"Are you sure?" Leon asks still surprised.

You give him a what the hell look. "I'm pretty freaking sure Leon. Unless I was drugged and raped with no recollection of it." 

Leon finally reaches some sort of conclusion and his eyes soften as they meet yours. "You should've told me earlier. I wouldn't have been so rough with you."

You scoff, "clearly I liked it. Thanks for that," you say sarcastically. "But when would I have told you? It's not something that you blurt out at random."

Leon hums but doesn't reply. He brushes his thumb back and forth across your thigh as he thinks.

"I want you," you interrupt before he starts thinking too much. "I'm not going into this blindly."

Leon searches your eyes, "you positive about that?"

You smile, "yeah...I can't quit you boo."

Leon groans and rolls his eyes, "okay, mood is officially gone."

You laugh as you lean down and kiss him. "Awww, I'm sorry." You playfully push your tongue against his lips and he gives in easily. Leon runs his hands under your shirt spreading his fingers across your back, as he meets your tongue with his. The way you were sitting, you could feel as he was getting hard under you. You couldn't help but to grind down softly onto him. Leon moans and heat quickly builds up again as you continue kissing, though Leon is being much more gentle with you than before.

You feel his fingers move up under your bra, and quickly snap it apart. Clearly, he's done this before. You start to move away so he could pull your shirt off, but Leon's phone rings beside his empty scotch glass. You give it a death glare before looking back at Leon. "Let it go to voicemail."

Leon places a quick kiss to your lips before leaning over and reaching beside him to grab his phone. "I wish I could.-Yes?"

You narrow your eyes at him as Leon listens to whoever on the phone. You grind down again as Leon grips your hip tightly to stop you from moving. His eyes dark, he gives you a warning look. Boldly, before you overthink it, you pull your shirt up over your head bringing your bra with it.

Leon almost drops the phone but quickly hangs on bringing back up to his ear. "Of course," he says in a hard tone.

You smile at the effect you had on him and lean forward planting quiet kisses against his neck. You could hear a woman's voice on the other end but you couldn't make out who it was or what she was saying. You grind down on his lap again as you bite down gingerly on his shoulder. 

Leon starts to groan but catches himself. "No, I'm still a bit sore. Nothing serious." He wraps his arm tightly around you to keep you still. You hide your face into his neck to keep from laughing. Leon squeezes you in warning. Taking pity, plus not knowing what to do from here since he pretty much had you stuck, you place a light kiss to his neck and settle against him.

Leon lightly runs his hand up and down your back as he continues his conversation. It was more soothing than anything and you realize how tired you actually were. Leon hangs up a moment later, leaning away from you to be able to see your face.

You smile as you lean back from him. "Thank you for that," he says dryly.

You give him a huge grin, "anytime."

Leon's expression turns serious as he looks over your bare chest. He lightly runs his fingers up under your breast, barely touching your skin. Even though he was barely touching you, you shiver. He sighs as he trails his hand down your side coming to rest on your hip, "I have to take a raincheck."

You figured by the way he almost touched you but didn't. "Miranda?" you ask on a sigh. Leon gives you a wry smile as an answer. "I thought for some reason, they would give us more time off than this."

"It's Jernigan. I'm supposed to meet with him soon to discuss our partnership."

"Ah that creepster."

Leon gives you a confused smile, "yeah, the creepster."

You sigh and move off of Leon to put your shirt back on, "you leaving now?"

"I have to go to the office really quick. I shouldn't be more than a couple of hours...you can stay topless if you want. I won't mind." 

You pull your top on over your head as Leon playfully wags his eyebrows at you. "Maybe if you kept your apartment warmer I would."

"I only keep it cold so I can see your nipples harden."

You smack him, "just for that, I'm going to start wearing several layers!"

"It still wouldn't matter," Leon quips. He dodges your next smack and lifts you up over his shoulder.

You laugh as he carries you into the bedroom and throws you down onto the bed. Crawling up over you, he presses a soft kiss to your lips. You smile up at him and run your hands up his arms and around his neck. "You really need to follow through at some point Agent Kennedy. I swear I think I'm getting blue balls."

Leon laughs wholeheartedly above you and your heart jumps at his smile. "Same here. I never thought it would be from Ralph Jernigan's doing though."

You make a face, "yeah...that's definitely enough to kill a mood."

Leon leans down giving you one more kiss, "I'll be back soon. We'll pick this up some other time."

You try to pout at him, but it's ruined with a yawn that came out of nowhere. Leon chuckles, "get some sleep. You've had a long day."

You glare at him, "it's too early to go to bed."

Leon kisses you again, effectively shutting you up. Just when you move to pull him closer for more, he backs off and gets off the bed. You huff and move under the covers. "Fine asshole, you win," you say without any heat on your words. 

A smile plays at the edge of your lips as he lightly chuckles and kisses your forehead. "I'll be back soon."

"Be careful," you reply to his back as he heads out the door.

"No parties while I'm gone!" he yells as you hear the front door shut and the lock slide into place. 

You flop back heavily into his pillow as it releases the scent of his cologne and laundry detergent. Your mind goes through a fast replay of what just happened. Even though no one was around, you still feel your cheeks heat up in a blush. You really were shameless when it came to him. You let out a loud groan in the empty room out of embarassment. Pulling the covers up over your face, you resist the urge to scream. You couldn't have thrown yourself at him any harder. The only saving grace you could think of is that Leon didn't seem to mind. Flipping over on your stomach you bury your face into the pillow. "Pretty much an animal in heat," you mumble into it. 'Let it go Y/N. He doesn't seem to care and you shouldn't either.' 

As you were still stressing, you never realized that you actually fell asleep. You startle as you feel someone beside you and you instinctively reach for a gun.

"It's me," Leon's tired voice comes from beside you.

You groggily roll over and check time. "That's a bit more than a couple of hours." 

"I know," Leon says as he gathers you closer to him tucking your head under his neck.

Not finding the will to reply, you settle into him and fall back asleep.


	14. Ch 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ugh....I am so very sorry this took so long. I've got about half of ch 15 written and hope to have it done by this weekend so you don't have to wait so long. It was originally going to be one long chapter (14 and 15) but I had to split it up cause my program was having issues. Idk. Anyway, thank you for all the support and I hope you enjoy!

You awoke to an empty bed. Running your hand beside you, the sheets were cold. Which meant Leon had left a while ago. Stretching out, you debate on whether or not you wanted to get up. Your limbs still heavy from sleep, you force them to move. It was honestly your curiousity on whether or not he was still here that made your mind up. Shaking, you grab one of Leon's sweaters out of his closet. Enveloped in his unique smell again, you smile inwardly and leave the bedroom.

A note at the coffee pot was immediately seen. -Went to meet Jernigan. Be back later. L- You set the note down to the side. Leon had left a full pot of coffee for you. 'How thoughtful.' Moving to the couch, you realize that the windows were covered with a small layer of frost. 'I wonder if I could go home for Christmas or maybe just Thanksgiving. Would it be weird if I invited Leon to come? That would be like the 'I want you to meet my parents' scenario right...ugh. Oh god...he would meet Chris.' You make a face at that idea. Chris wasn't exactly welcoming, and to someone you were...'what. Someone I am what? Seeing casually when I'm not sent to god knows where trying not to die. Oh yeah that's going to go well. Leon meet Chris, my childhood friend who has a secret crush on me. Chris meet Leon, the guy who was my partner initially but isn't cause I'm trying to date AND sleep with him. Glad you two could meet.'

And then there was Robert. He definitely would not be happy to meet Leon. You sigh. 'Y/N you have enough time to decide later,' you tell yourself sternly. But your mind wouldn't shut off and stayed fixated on it. 'Would it seem like too much if I invited him? Is it too soon? It's something normal to ask a boyfriend I guess....he's not though. Not really.' You wanted to scream in frustration. 'Just ask him if you are together, Y/N. Its's not that hard. Does it count as together if you're not seeing other people? Normally. But nothing about this is normal.'

Maybe Leon was right. Maybe you were overthinking things and you just needed to let things be what they were. Reaching for your laptop, you power it on. You still had a report to finish. And seeing how Leon isn't here right now. You might actually get it done. 

Waiting for it to boot up, you get lost in the memory of the feel of his lips on yours. Leon's sure hands on your thigh. 'Stop. You've got things to do,' you chatise yourself.

Clearing your head, you focus on the task at hand.

*********

It was early afternoon before you finally finished and sent the email to Hunnigan. You had called her to go over the details. She was giving you pointers on what to change and where as you retyped your report.

"Hunnigan, you're like a report wizard."

She laughs, "well I need to buy a robe then. You should also change the last sentence on that paragraph. It states that-...I'm getting a call hold on." Hunnigan's voice goes back to her normal business tone as she answers. "Hunnigan."

She waits for a reply but none came. Since you were left on speakerphone you stayed quiet and waited. "Hunnigan," she repeats. After a moment she gasps, "Y/N where's Leon?"

"He went to meet Jernigan. Why?"

She ignores your question. "Where at?" 

"I don't know, he didn't tell me."

You hear the telltale clicks of her keyboard as she tries to trace him. "Shit he's trapped."

"Patch me in Hunnigan." She makes a noise but does as you request. You hear a man's voice far in the background. "Is he talking?"

"He can't there's people outside the room searching for him. Leon, once you go through the door, you can head right. There's service stairs at the end. You're on the third floor and you need to head down."

You hear the click of a button from Leon's side. He drew his knife. "How many Hunnigan?"

"From what I can see at least a dozen....however they could call in more men."

"Do you not have a gun? You're going to take on a dozen men with a knife?" you furiously whisper. You didn't know why you were whispering, but it seemed appropriate for the moment. 

Leon still couldn't answer but you hear him slow his breathing and prepare for what he was about to do. 

"How far Hunnigan?"

"You won't be any help Y/N. He's almost at the other end of the city. It'd take too long for you to get there."

You press a fist into your stomach to settle the nerves there. You were useless in this. Leon was trapped and there wasn't a thing you could do about it but listen in. You felt sick.

"I don't know what went wrong Leon, but you better find a way out of there so help me god."  
You barely heard his light snort from the other end. "I mean it. I hate to have to kick your dead ass. You make it out alive."

"Leon, now," Hunnigan says hurriedly.

You hear the whisper of fabric move against each other as Leon does as Hunnigan instructed. 

"Leon, you're almost at the stairs. I've gotten into the security footage. There's a man on the other side of the door at the bottom floor, facing the hallway. You're going to have to neutralize him to get past."

You inhale and exhale slowly. You didn't know how Hunnigan did this job. You were a wreck and he wasn't even in trouble yet. You heard the light click of a door from Leon's end signaling the stairwell. As Leon descended, you could hear his footsteps on the metal stairs.

"Leon, you need to walk quieter. I can hear your steps from here."

"Dress shoes," Leon whispers.

"Why on earth would you wear dress shoes?!" you angrily whisper back.

You could almost feel Leon's shrug, "I had a meeting."

Your anger dissapated quickly. That's true. It's not like he went in ready to kick ass. At least he brought his knife. "When you get to the door, walk normally. Your light steps will sound suspicious. If you walk normal he may think it's one of the guys coming down."

"Good idea Y/N," Hunnigan praises.

Leon's footsteps become heavier as he nears the door and with each step your heart beats a bit harder. You hear Leon's intake of breath right before you hear the door open and the grunt of another man. There's was a couple of seconds of shuffling before a nasty gurgling sound. Leon apparently cut his throat.

You stayed quiet as Hunnigan guided him back to the garage where he said he was parked. She expertly got him through without being spotted. You finally felt like you could breathe when you heard an engine start. But of course, leave it to Leon to take his bike to a business meeting.

Hunnigan waits as the squeeling of tires stop and she could be heard, "are you being followed?"

"No," Leon shouts over the wind. "But I'm sure they know by now that I'm gone."

"What happened?" you asked.

"Not sure. I was compromised. They didn't know my true identity and was trying to get more information out of me. I don't believe they knew I was with the DSO. From what I gathered they believed I was from a rival company trying to get more information."

"Ok." Hunnigan start typing on her end. "I'm erasing any information tied with your alias. I'll send you new ones as soon as I can."

"Thanks Hunnigan."

"Will you need to be relocated?"

Leon hums, "doubtful. As long as you change the name. I don't see why Jernigan would have looked me up. He wasn't suspicious until today."

"Ok. Just make sure you're not followed, Leon." Hunnigan's chair squeeks a little as she moves. "I've got plans tonight and definitely don't want to work over cause of you."

You and Leon laugh. "Got a date?" you ask.

"...something like that," Hunnigan says coyly.

"Hunnigan" Leon says in mock surprise, "I didn't take you for the booty call type."

She laughs, "what? Just cause I turned you down?"

You pause, Leon hit on Hunnigan?

"Maybe...you told me I was on duty."

"Yeah, you're still on duty," she replies dryly. "Plus your girlfriend is still on the line. I'm sure she's really happy about this."

You stay quiet waiting on Leon's response to being called his girlfriend.

"Y/N, you mad at me now?"

You scoff, "depends. Was this last week or a while ago?"

"...it was when I was rescuing Ashley."

"...are you serious?" You lean back into the couch. 'He asked her out while I was waiting on him? That...shithead! Really?!'

Leon's lack of answer was enough. "Well I guess we're not exclusive, so whatever. It's not like you actually asked me out or anything so I mean it's not technically cheating if we're not together."

"Y/N-" Leon says, but you keep talking.

"I just wished you would've been a BIT more clear that way I'm not just waiting around on you to come back from god knows where. I could've spent my time on better things...or maybe taking Chris up on that dinner."

You knew that was a bit low of you. Plus Chris never invited you for dinner but he didn't have to know that. You were being spiteful. But hearing that he asked her out when you two were...whatever you were, hurt.

"I'll be home in 15." Leon says right before hanging up.

There was a bit of silence before Hunnigan spoke, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause a fight."

You blow out a breath, "I'm not upset with you. I just don't understand me and him. I don't really have a reason to be upset. I just thought maybe we were only seeing each other I guess."

"Well we're not seeing each other. I don't mix work and my personal life."

You let out a wry laugh, "should've stuck to that motto myself."

"Honestly, it wasn't even that big of a deal. He said that I looked good without my glasses and he asked if he could have my number when he got back."

"He's already got your number though."

"Exactly."

You pause. 'Maybe I overreacted.' You sigh. "So Leon's just a shameless flirt it seems."

Hunnigan laughs, "not really. It's just with people he knows. He doesn't mean anything by it."

You think back at how he talked to Tiffany when you two met. "Yeah...seems like I may have made a bigger deal out of this than it should've been."

"Well," Hunnigan sighs, "just between us girls. Leon wouldn't have a shortage of admirers. It'd take a strong woman to deal with that without getting jealous. And if what you say is true...he should've laid down some clear line on where you two stand. But men are idiots."

You laugh, "trust me I know they are."

"You should definitely talk to him. In the meantime, I'll get your report finished and sent to Miranda."

"You don't have to do that."

"It'll make me feel better. Since your boyfriend hit on me and all."

You both share a laugh. "You're the boss, Hunnigan. Whatever you say."

*************

Leon arrived looking worse than you expected. Removing his jacket, you saw where he had blood splatters from what looked like a busted nose. The beginnings of a black eye was forming and he was tenderly holding his shoulder. "So...I fully expected you to be gone."

You raise an eyebrow, "Hunnigan explained some things." You gesture to his shirt. "Shouldn't you...change or something?"

Leon pulls a chair out with his left hand and sits heavily. "My shoulder's dislocated, can I get you to set it?"

You move over to him and start tenderly feeling around his shoulder. "It's moved forward out of socket which is easier than the other way."

Leon nods. "Just make sure you have a firm hold and-SON OF-" he trails off into a hum of pain as you pull on his arm while pushing the shoulder back. You felt the bone pop back into place quickly.

Lifting his arm, you gently rotate it around to make sure it was back in place right. Leon nods even though he was wincing. "It's good thanks."

You look around uneasily, trying to decide if you should say something or let the matter drop. You decide to grab some water out of the fridge and sit on the couch. You feel Leon's eyes on you as you get comfortable. Not meeting them with your own, you take one more drink before replacing the cap and setting it down.

".....I'm not exactly good at these things." Leon's voice was soft as he spoke to you.

You snort lightly but keep quiet. 

"I didn't mean anything by it...it was just nice to hear a friendly voice. And I was happy that I was finally coming home...to see you. It was said in jest."

You let out a heavy sigh. "I know," you almost whispered, your voice small.

"And yet you're still upset?"

"Look Leon." You pause wondering if you should even say it. Doing so would make you vulnerable to him. But it was Leon. You could trust him. "I need a clear line. To know where we stand, where I stand with us. I need to know if you want this to be serious or just something nice to come back to every once in a while. I don't deserve to be left in this void without knowing where I am. We're either together or not. That simple. I can't just have things how they are now. If I knew where I stood I wouldn't have cared about what you said to Hunnigan."

You take a peek up at him, not trusting to look at him when you spoke. Leon was thinking on your words while absentmindedly rubbing his sore shoulder. "So....what it is now.....that's not enough?"

"No, Leon. It's not enough."

"Why?"

You stiffen. You just pretty much told him why. He clearly heard and understood you. So what was he asking? 

You chew on your lip....might as well come out with it. "Because...I could fall in love...because I could very easily have my heart broken and I don't like setting myself up for failure. Especially if you knew from the start you wouldn't feel the same way. Because I know that no matter what, if we kept things like they are now, I'd still go along just be near you. I don't trust myself to have enough strength to know when to go. When enough is enough.....and that scares me."

"Y/N, if we were together and I didn't come home. Your heart would be broken anyway."

"Well at least we were together." You finally meet his eyes. "Is that why you've held back?"

Leon briefly meets your eyes before dropping them. "I don't know....maybe. I know what it's like to be waiting on someone you love to come back and they never do."

"Would you trade it for never having them in your life at all?"

"Well....no."

"Exactly."

Leon gives you a wry look. "They were my parents though."

You shrug, "so? You could've been put up for adoption. You wouldn't have known them then. Knowing them as you do, you would still want them in your life, right?" 

Leon nods.

"Okay, so the only difference here is that you're given a choice. And I am asking you, for my own sanity, to choose." You pause before you stand up and grab your laptop. "I'm going back home for now. You have some wounds to attend to and some decisions to make. I'd rather not be here for either."

"You can stay...I don't mind."

You give him a small smile. "I do. Plus, I want you to take time and decide on what you really want. I don't want to be a rash decision."

Leon's silence was enough to get you to move to grab your things from around the apartment. You were on the verge of freaking out that you just gave him an ultimatum on the two of you. You quickly grab the last of your stuff and come back out to see Leon still in the chair. 

Stopping in front of him, you look over his slighly hunched shoulders and his down-turned eyes. When he finally meets yours, you could see the storm of emotion going on in them. 

Sighing you squat down in front of him, "I'm sorry Leon. Honestly. It's probably unfair of me to tell you to draw a line. But I can't move forward without it. I have all these feelings for you and I don't know what to do with them because I don't know if they're wanted. Just please make a decision so I know whether or not I need to move on. I'll understand either way. I know this isn't easy and I'm not going to push."

You pause and push his long hair back from his eyes. "I would never regret having you in my life. No matter what you decide." 

Leon's troubled eyes meets yours and you give him a small smile. Pressing a kiss to his cheek, you stand and quietly leave his apartment.

 

****************

Back home you were restless. You couldn't focus. You tried. Normally cleaning helped but you ended up sitting at your table with the rag in hand hearing your words echo in your head. Did you make the right call? Or was it highly unfair of you to ask that from him? You had no idea. You wanted to just drive back over and say forget it, but you knew that wouldn't lead anywhere. Picking up your phone you wanted to call your dad but you hardly doubted he would understand someone he didn't know. Plus you didn't have it in you to get into that conversation.

You needed a break. Some friends would probably be nice but Hunnigan was on a date. That's about all you had. 

Your thumbs hovered over your phone screen and on a whim you dialed Tessanne's number. Suprisingly she answered.

"Hey Tessanne, its Alyssa Carter."

"Oh yes! How are things dear?"

"Um, well JJ said that you had his number...to call him sometime. I, uh, was going to take him up on that."

"Uh oh....sounds like trouble."

You pause, "well...maybe."

"I'm almost done with my last client. I'll call JJ and come pick you up and we'll have dinner and drinks at my place."

"Oh....well...I don't wanna-"

"You're not going to leave me out of this," Tessanne says sternly. "I love gossip as much as anyone else."

You laugh, "well if you say so..."

"Good. Give me your address."

You told her and sat there uneasily. "I...I don't want to be a burden."

"Nonsense. I'll be there in about an hour." Tessanne hangs up before you could say anything.

'Nobody says bye anymore.' You look around your apartment and throw the rag on the counter. Maybe a night away will help you settle down.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied to you and didn't get it up last weekend. I'm sorry. I instead got pneumonia which I'm still recovering from. In the meantime I decided to add more into the chapter that I had halfway done previously. Leave it to me to make the story longer when I didn't need to.
> 
> If the writing seems a bit off or I misspelled words, please keep in mind that I'm on a lot of medicine and I was too lazy to go back and proofread. :)

Tessanne's place was gorgeous. You tried not to stare but you were pretty sure you were failing miserably. She even had her own personal maintenance crew along with housemaids. She ushered you into a sort of indoor/outdoor patio. It was heated, which you were thankful for, and the floor to ceiling windows looked like they could all open to enjoy a nice day. With the sun setting, you were thankful they were closed.

"Let me grab some wine and see what the chef has planned for dinner."

You didn't get a chance to reply before Tessanne walked away. 

'She does hair, how the hell does she afford all of this?!' You stare over her perfect lawn.

Tessanne setting a wine glass down brings you away from staring off into space.

"Now my dear, what on earth have you been up to?"

You shift a bit watching her slowly pour the wine into the glass. "Well...I...nothing really."

She gives you a sharp look. "Come on-"

"LADIES!! JJ HAS COME TO SAVE THE DAY!!"

Tessanne jumps spilling some of the wine on her table. She makes an exasperated noise and turns to the main part of the house with her hand on her hip. "You better grab a rag and your own glass before you get over here!"

Apparently JJ has been here many times.

Tessanne is tapping impatiently on the table with one of her fingernails.

She was an odd mix of a person. She was a bit intimidating and half the time she spoke to you as if she was irritated that she had to spend her breath doing so. But you could tell she cared deeply for the people around her.

"You know...I could just..." you made a motion of wiping it up with the sleeve of your shirt. Tessanne made a horrified face as you laughed. 

"While that...flannel" Tessanne fake shudders, "is basically a rag anyway, you are wearing it and you're not going to sit there with a stained shirt." 

You pout at her, "its not that bad. I like flannel."

"Ugh" Tessanne shakes her head as JJ sashays into the room spinning the rag and holding an empty wine glass in the other.

"JJ's here to save the day!"

He's colored his dark hair to where it was natural at the roots and moved to a vibrant purple. The very ends of his hair was colored almost lavendar. 

"Oh my god JJ, your hair looks so good!" You were serious.

He pats it lightly, lips pursed. "What can I say? I have the best stylist." He pecks Tessanne on the cheek as he wipes up the spilt wine. She shooes his kiss away but sits with a smile.

Pouring everybody a glass, JJ finally sits. "So....what did I miss?" he singsongs.

"Alyssa here was just explaining how she was up to nothing, even though she calls us out of the blue after she went MIA."

You meet Tessanne disbelieving stare with a raised eyebrow. "To be fair, I'm much younger than the both of you. I hardly doubted, no matter how kind your words were, that you actually wanted to hang out with me. People here have a habit of saying nice things without actually meaning any of it."

Tessanne sips her wine, "jaded already?"

"You have no idea," you reply flatly.

"If I didn't like you, I wouldn't have invited you."

"Same here," JJ adds.

You nod, "I've figured that out."

"Ok, so spill" JJ says as he leans forward on the table towards you. "It's been so dull here lately. I need some good gossip."

You smile. You tell them everything you could, altering the stories a bit to keep your line of work a secret. Towards the end of it, you were gesturing wildly in frustration talking a mile a minute. You force yourself to stop and go to take another drink of wine when you realize your glass was empty. JJ pushes the bottle towards you and you fill it yourself.

Taking a sip, you pull your legs up on the cushioned chair and lean back still holding your wine. "I gave him an ultimatum today. I told him to decide. That I couldn't live in this gray area and he needed to choose where we stood." You sigh into your glass. "I didn't want to...I feel bad for doing it...but I just...I had to." Your heart heavy, you give a pleading look to them. "Now I'm second guessing myself. I want to run back to him and take it all back. But I KNOW that's not the right thing to do. It just...hurts."

JJ tsks, "I thought you two were already together?"

"Yeah....I mean he never actually asked me out. I just assumed and then he made me a key to his apartment."

JJ snorts, "yeah I think that would be a pretty big sign that you were. Ugh, straight men."

You give him a small smile. "Anyway, there. Its off my chest but I just wanna forget about it for now and have some sort of a life outside him and work."

Tessanne nods, "I was like that too when I was your age."

"Yeah about that," you pause trying to find a not so rude way to phrase your question but you were coming up blank.

"Just spit it out. You're not going to hurt my feelings."

You smirk at her, "Fine. How the hell are you this rich when you just do hair? I mean you own it, but still."

Tessanne laughs, "lots of dead husbands."

You tried to keep your face neutral.

"I was a very different person a long time ago. We grew up dirt poor. Not just poor. We ate what we could grow and if it didn't grow, we didn't eat. My parents loved each other very much but my mom could never hold a job and my dad...well lets just say he worked under the table a lot. I found out later that my dad was schizophrenic and believed that grocery store food was laced by drugs that allowed the government to control you. This stuff was never talked about in my day. They'd just lock you up and inject you with drugs until you died. My mom didn't want that for him even though she knew he was messed up. And her solution was to just go along with his crazy ideas. Like I said...she loved him."

Tessanne sighs watching her wine swirl in her glass. "I decided that I didn't want that for myself. I left when I was 14. I worked a few places and eventually figured out that older men had money. I'd get in good with them and they'd buy me things. Eventually I married them, waited for them to die, and reap the benefits as their wife. I've lost count to be honest. There's been dozens."

Looking at the sadness in her eyes, you couldn't judge her. She had a tough childhood and you could easily see why she did that. "What made you stop?"

She smiles and gives you a wink. "What makes you think I did?"

"There not an old asthmatic man wheezing in another room ringing a golden bell."

JJ laughs, "thats actually my goal when I'm old."

Tessanne smiles at him, "true. I stopped cause I fell in love. I happened to meet a great man, we got married, were going to have a family, and it all got taken away. Freak accident where we were hit by another vehicle that lost control of their steering. Killed that driver, my husband, and almost me." Tessanne takes a deep breath. "I lost the baby, when the doctors were trying to keep me alive. After that...it was no more. I had plenty of money stashed away. I started the salon after I got my license and now I go to work when I'm bored or need something to do."

"Well shit....I don't know what to say."

Tessanne gives you a small smile. " 'Well shit' just about sums it up perfectly. But that's enough of all this. JJ's going to tell us stories of horrible dates as we eat good food and drink the night away."

"Girls!" JJ rolls his eyes. "Let me tell you in my glittery world, the dating scene is dis-gust-ting. Listen to what this guy did."

****************

It was almost 3 days later before you heard from Leon. A text was left on your phone around 2am that you didn't see until the morning.

'I've been assigned to an outbreak. Want to talk to you when I get back. Don't wait up. L.'

'That sounds....maybe promising?'

You text Hunnigan. -Are you going to be his support?-

-Yes, I'll keep you updated.-

You smile at your phone. What would you do without her.

You move to get out of bed to make some coffee but your phone rings. Looking at it you recognize the office number.

"Yes?"

"You'll be getting your next assignment shortly. There's been several outbreaks the last few days that have been worrisome. We need to get any info you can find."

"Copy. Will my partner also be engaged?"

There was a short silence on the other end. "We felt that your talents were best suited for this particular assignment."

That would be a no. "Copy that."

"We need you in and out as quickly as possible. The situation has escalated to a possible cleanse."

"A cleanse?"

"To wipe out the city. The BSAA have already been on the scene."

"When do I leave?"

"Now if possible. The BSAA will be your transport. They will meet you here. You can review your documents on the flight."

You hang up to pack your weapons. Your laptop dings with a new email and you open the file quickly scanning the contents.

Africa. At least its warm.

************

You have been trudging through his hell hole in a jeep for a week now. It seemed like everytime you found a lead, you were late to the party. You sent whatever info you could find back to Hunnigan but each little town you came to, there was scores of dead bodies or those parasite infected zombie things roaming around. Thankfully the BSAA knew what you were going into and set you up with plenty of ammo.

You park the jeep at the edge of a cliff and get out to stretch your legs and drink some water. Wetting the makeshift bandana you had wrapped around your nose and mouth, you use it to wipe the grime around your eyes. You'd kill for a shower about now.

Suddenly a horn sounds in the distance followed by the sound of crashing metal. Peering down over the edge of the cliff everything goes silent. You unfasten your gun from it's holster as you go on high alert. You were searching for the source of the sound as a large figure comes into view. It lets out a screech before swooping down out of view.

'The hell was that? A bat bee?'

The echo of yells reach your ears before you decide to go after it. 

Jumping quickly into the jeep you race down the mountain as quickly as you dared on these dirt roads. If you lost control you'd slide over the edge and that would be the end of that. You sure as hell didn't feel like dying in a place like this. 

You lock up the brakes on the jeep as you see a trailer overturned right as you come around a corner. It slides as you turn the wheel smacking into the trailer on the passenger side stopping you.

The jolt from your impact causes the trailer to shift on the uneven dirt sending it sliding. Grabbing your bag you quickly jump out as the trailer slides off the edge of the cliff. The cab clips your jeep, spinning it, but thankfully doesn't pull it down with it.

Hearing the screeching sound again, you pull your gun out. Two people are running towards you followed by that massive flying bat bee. Neither the people, or the monster seemed to have noticed you were there. They take shelter in a shed of some type as the monster lands.

'That's not gonna help.' You think climbing into the back of the jeep grabbing your rifle. Using the bar of the jeep for your aim, you pull the trigger hitting the monster in the eye. It screams as you reload letting another bullet pierce through its wing. 'Dammit one more.' You aim right as it sees you. 

With a roar it starts to run towards you as you pull the trigger hitting inside its mouth. It halts for moment, which you use to try to start up the jeep, but the engine won't turn over. You start to panic. 'Come on dammit! Start!'

A beeping sound reaches your ears and you were moving before your brain caught up with what it was. You pretty much fall out of the jeep just as an explosion caught the monster sending it over the cliff. Scrambling on your back, you move backwards from your tilting jeep just as it rolls and hit the ground inches from your foot. You cough out the dust cloud from the impact. 

Leaning your head back on the ground you take a moment to calm your racing heart. A bullet hits your jeep and you're moving again. Grabbing your rifle from where it fell you take a peek around the corner of the jeep seeing those two people from earlier walking towards you guns aimed.

You fire your rifle in their general direction making sure to not aim at them. "I'm not here to hurt you!" You yell.

The footsteps stop. "Y/N!?"

You knew that voice. "Chris?!!"

Moving from your cover, you stand to see Chris a few yards away standing with a woman you've never seen before.

"Oh my god it is you!" you yell.

You drop the rifle and take off into a run as he's jogging towards you. You don't let up until you're on him not caring that your momentum makes your smack against him as he wraps you up in his arms.

Chris bear hugs you while taking a few steps back to prevent you both going down. The sound of his laughter was the best thing you've heard in weeks.

"That's the most emotion I've seen from you since I've met you," a heavily accented voice comes from somewhere behind him.

Chris ignores her as he lifts you up off the ground.

"Put me down gigantor!" you yell.

Chris lets out another bellowing laugh but does as you say. You smile up at him. If anything he got bigger than the last time you saw him, which you never thought would've been possible. "What the hell have you been doing?" you say squeezing his biceps. "Punching boulders?"

"I might be!" he says on a laugh.

"You almost broke my ribs hugging me."

"I would never!" he says in a mocking tone.

"As cute as this is, we have unfinished business." 

You turn to the woman with a smile. You could hear the jealousy in her voice. Little did she know, you weren't interested. 

"Sheva this is Y/N. We basically grew up together and we trained together. Y/N was called away to the DSO while I stayed with the BSAA."

You nod at her as a welcome. She studies you for a moment before slightly nodding back.

"What is the DSO doing here anyway?"

You shook your head. "Just me. They didn't send a team. There's several other outbreaks and we're stretched thin. I'm trying to gather information on the buyers and sellers. But all I've got is what I guess you two have left behind." You look up at Chris. "The more I gather here, the better the chances are that we can prevent these other outbreaks from degrading to this point. They're planning on wiping this place out like they did to Raccoon City. It's been deemed unsalvageable."

"The DSO sent you alone?" Chris asks barely containing his anger.

'Here we go again.' "We're stretched thin," you repeated. "Plus I'm more than capable. I've got superpowers now."

Chris gives you a questioning look but decides to let it go. "Well we might be on the trail of the seller."

"Awesome. Then I'll tag along with you." You see Sheva cross her arms out of the corner of your eye. You wanted to laugh at how much she clearly didn't like that idea. "But first, I need you to hulk out and flip my jeep back over."

Chris smiles not seeing Sheva's reaction. "We'll see what I can do about that."


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh finally not sick and I can sorta breath correctly now. Sweet!

It was almost another week before the mission was finally completed. You were idly pushing on the skin on your forearm coaxing a bullet out. The wind in the helicopter was whipping your long hair around your face causing your vision to keep being obscured. 

A girl named Jill was sleeping next to you, while Chris and Sheva was on the other side. You liked Jill, she was more than capable and more than that she was outgoing. An extrovert. There was some sort of past there with Chris that you picked up on and you had planned on ribbing him on it sometime in the future.

Sheva still didn't seem to care for you too much but with Jill around she seemed more inclined to like you. At least she didn't talk to you like you had a disease anymore. That's a plus.

Wiping the grime out of your eyes you almost laugh as you recount how all of you escaped. Little did you know that Chris actually did punch boulders even though you were joking. Turns out his massiveness worked out for all of you, since there was no way you guys were going to make it otherwise. You suppress a shudder. Death by volcano was not on your list of top ten ways to die.

You give attention back to your forearm and scrape the surface of your skin with your nail, opening up the wound a little bit more. Pushing the skin next to it, the tip of the bullet finally pushes through enough for you to grab it and pull it out. Rubbing the skin the shards finally come free falling to the ground before your skin finally closes back up. You frown, was your healing getting quicker or are you losing all sense of time?

"Superpowers," Chris's gravelled voice makes you jump a little.

"You should be sleeping."

"I could tell you the same."

You look up at him pushing the hair out of your face the best you could. You curse wishing you had an extra hair tie or maybe one that didn't break.

Chris was staring at you intensely, which was marred by Sheva asleep leaning on him. He was trying his best to look intimidating. It wasn't working.

"What's on your mind?"

He nodded to your arm. "Is that what they did to you?"

You smile a little. "No....they enhanced what I already had. This is what my mom did to me."

Chris looked surprised. "Do you feel it?"

"What? Pain? Yes, I still feel pain. Just...not as long I guess since things heal up fairly quickly." Chris nods thoughtfully. You glance at Jill still sleeping beside you. "I like her." You nod in her direction while keeping your eyes on Chris. You watch a fond smile ease onto his face. "I'm thinking you should probably keep her around."

Chris chuckles a bit. "It's not that easy."

"Yeah, she's got a strong will."

"Not what I meant."

You meet Chris's eyes and knew exactly what he meant. You sigh. Maybe in a different life. You could've easily fell for someone like him. Maybe if some blonde haired man hadn't completely brought you to your knees then....maybe. 

"Is there a chance?" Chris asks softly.

You had a feeling he already knew the answer before he asked. But you knew the importance of having it aired out. To hear the confirmation.

"No," you say just as softly. You felt terrible saying it out loud like that. "You are my best friend. And we've been through a lot together. I never looked at you like that til recently." You see the surprise in Chris's face and you smile. "Yes I know, I gave it some thought. But ultimately I can't. Not that you're unattractive or anything." You wiggle your eyebrows suggestively making him suppress a laugh to not wake the other girls.

"Ok so what made you decide no?"

You pause as Leon's image comes up in your memories. "I'm falling in love with someone."

Chris blows out a large breath. "That's....that's quite a big thing coming from you." You give him a wry smile. "What's the issue?"

"There's a lot. I don't want to get into though. I left a lot not settled when I got here." Chris nods thoughtfully. "I'm sorry Chris. Plus me and you would've been too easy and we'd lead a normal boring life where I bitch about how you load the dishwasher and you bitch about the amount of Christmas decorations I put up." 

Chris couldn't contain his laughter that time and ends up waking the girls. "You really thought it through."

Your smile fades, "yeah, I did." Looking out over the sea you just wish you could hurry up and be home. Plus two weeks without a shower, you felt like you needed to take a metal brush to your skin to get all the caked on grime off.

"Is he good to you?"

You look back at Chris in surprise. "What?"

"I said...is he good to you?"

You think about what Leon's done since you've known him. But that wasn't it. You liked how he pushed you out of your comfort zone. How things were just a bit more exciting when he was there. How more comfortable you were with yourself. 

"He is," you say as Chris nods a little. "More importantly, he's good FOR me."

Chris looks a bit stunned at your statement. You see Sheva smiling slightly beside him, finally realizing the subject of your conversation. "In love are we?" she's asks in the nicest tone you've heard from her.

You smile at her, "I might be, we'll see."

Jill pulls her legs up under her in the seat beside you. "That's so exciting. I hope it works for you two."

"Yeah me too," you say distractedly watching Chris studying the the water below you. "Is something wrong, Chris?"

Chris doesn't meet your eyes but instead looks to the girls. "We'll make land here in ten minutes. We have to be debriefed."

Jill groans, "my least favorite thing to do. I think I'd rather have the mind control back."

You agree watching Chris finally meeting your eyes for a split second before looking away. He looked a bit hurt. You hated it and yourself a little for making him feel that way. You stayed silent the rest of the way back to the base.

You weren't the BSAA so there was no briefing for you, just a ride back home with a report that Hunnigan had already started since there was a mountain of information obtained.

You push through the flurry of activity on the helicopter pad trying to find Chris. You weren't about to leave without saying goodbye. And hopefully wiping that look out of his eyes.

You finally spot him a few yards away walking towards one of the tents. You grab his arm to stop him. "Chris wait."

He stops but doesn't turn to you, so you move in front of him. "Chris, I don't know what to say, but I can't just leave. I hurt you and I don't like it."

Chris meets your eyes before looking down at the hand still on his arm. His large hand grips your wrist and you inwardly wince thinking he was going to throw your hand of him. Instead Chris's fingers toy with the bracelet you have on from when he tied it to your wrist when you left the BSAA. It was worn and dirty but it has hung through. You smile slightly seeing the other two on his wrist still.

Chris sighs and pulls you into a full body hug against him. Wrapping your arms around him back, you press your nose into his chest. "I'm sorry" you say, your voice muffled.

Chris's hand presses into the back of your head, his fingers going through your hair. You instantly felt like crying but held back. "There's not a thing to apologize about. I'm a big boy, I can handle it."

You give him a weak laugh in response. Pulling back you look at him fondly.

"You're going to hate me for this but I have to."

You couldn't even get out the word 'what' before Chris's lips are on yours. Surprised, you make a weird squeaking sound as he pulls you closer to deepen the kiss. Slowly, you relax but don't kiss him back.

Chris finally realizes and pulls away. "I'm ummmm.....I'm sorry."

"No you're not," you quip.

Chris chuckles, "you're right. But you could've at least kissed me back."

You smile, "I couldn't. It felt weird."

Chris pretends to be offended, "do I suck at kissing?"

"Like most things you do in life."

"Ouch, that was rude."

You laugh still in his arms. "I have missed you though."

Chris's eyes are soft. "Thanks for not holding my moment of weakness against me."

You shrug, "you took a shot. Can't blame you for that. Although Leon's not going to be happy about this."

"Leon, huh. That's an....interesting name."

You give him a hard look. "Don't you dare Chris Redfield. I will murder you myself."

Chris lets you go raising his hands up in surrender. "I didn't say anything."

You start to panic. "I mean it. We don't use our real names. If the DSO found out we were compromised in any way, that would be the end of it. No looking him or up or anything. We cannot have a trace of information following us."

"Hey, its ok. I get it. I won't do anything," Chris says trying to calm you down. You look at him in disbelief. "I promise Y/N, I won't...I wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize you in any way."

You relax, Chris's promises were always something you could count on. "Ok."

"Ok. Now, you gotta get back home. Let me walk you to your ride."

"My flight you mean?"

"Yeah whatever. The thing that will bring you closer to a shower."

You wrinkle your nose, "not that you smell any better."

Chris makes a show of wafting his shirt. "It's called man musk. It doesn't matter if you stink. It just means you were out there being a man."

You roll your eyes. "Call it what you want. No girl would want to get close to that."

"You were all up in this. Are you not a girl?" He gives you a self satisfied smile.

"You recall the time where you blindsided me by kissing me and I rejected you?"

"Touché," Chris says as he practically pushes you into the helicopter. "So if I smelled better you would've given me a chance?"

You smile and lean forward giving him a kiss on the forehead. "I'm going to try to come home for Thanksgiving or for Christmas. Maybe I'll see you there with Jill?"

Chris shrugs, "maybe. Thanks for keeping me alive out there."

"Anytime," you say smiling at him. "Call me," you joke.

Chris blows a kiss in response and you let out a hearty laugh before buckling up for your ride home.

 

*****************

 

You hurriedly unlock your door shivering. After being in sweltering heat for half a month, coming back home was a slap in the face. It was lightly snowing. You groan as you plop down in your kitchen chair creating a cloud of dust in your wake. "Gross." You lean your head back closing your eyes, but since the back of the chair was too short, your head just dangles oddly over the top of it. You slump down to where at least your neck is supported on the back of the chair and you let your arms dangle to the floor. 'Well this isn't comfortable at all.'

You almost giggle at the thought of how ridiculous you must look right now. You were beyond tired, you must have reached the delirious zone. You do giggle a bit at that. "Highway to the delirious zone" you sing out loud.

You hear the creak of a door in your apartment and you pull and aim your gun without looking. You knew who it was. "Tell anyone and I'll kill you."

"Your safety's still on," Leon replies.

You sigh, "I'll kill you dead."

Leon snorts, "you're so intimidating."

You lower your arm and drop your gun on the floor. "Damn straight."

Leon's boots echo through your apartment as he walks to you and pulls chair up in front of you. You barely crack your eyes open to look at him as he sits. You study him. It feels like forever since you seen him. "You're so clean."

Leon smiles, "I got a chemical peel. It's done wonders for my complexion."

You snort, "you didn't need it. You're pretty anyway."

"I see you've tried the mud bath."

You eye your clothes. "Yeah they told me 20 minutes but I decided two weeks to let it really seep in."

"Don't you think you should probably wash it off now?"

"It's too much effort," you groan. "This is just how am I now. Hope you can deal."

"Come on," he says pulling you to your feet. "Just one quick rinse and you can curl up into bed."

You groan louder protesting being upright. "I can't make it. I'll die."

Leon laughs, "You won't. I'll stay just to make sure."

You pout at him but does as he says and make your way to the shower. You strip as you wait for the shower to warm up barely registering the door shutting. Leon's got an arm of your clothes and a couple of towels.

Normally you would've said something or at least made a move to tried to hide yourself, but you were at the point of exhaustion that you just stood there.

Leon gives you a small smile and sets your stuff down grabbing you around the waist. "Come on Y/N, in you go." Leon helps you into the shower and closes the curtain.

You sigh at the hot water hitting your skin but your exhaustion seems to increase ten times. You're swaying on your feet trying to stay upright. 'When's the last time I slept? Three days? Is that right?' You sway causing you to slip and you barely catch yourself by the bar in the shower.

"You ok?" Leon pulls the curtain back to look at you.

You meet his eyes as you're still holding onto the bar. "I don't know."

Leon studies you for a moment before closing the curtain again. You sigh and tighten your grip as you reach for the shampoo. 'Come on Y/N just get clean and you can sleep.'

Leon opens the shower curtain again and steps inside with you. Adjusting the shower head, he pulls you against him and grabs the shampoo out of your hands. You don't protest and lean your back against him thankful for the support he's giving you.

You feel the cold shampoo hit your head right before his fingers start to massage your scalp. You moan in relief and his fingers stop moving. Barely realizing this you stay quiet for a moment and he goes back to shampooing your hair.

"I'm going to need you not to that again," Leon's voice comes as smoothly as ever from beside your ear even though you felt it rumble through his chest. 

Belatedly you realize that there was some sort of wet cloth against the skin of your butt. It took an embarrasingly long time for you to figure out what it was. "Are you wearing boxers? In the shower?" You started giggling. "You don't wear clothes in the shower."

Leon grabs the shower head and rinses your hair. He scratches at your scalp with his fingers, you couldn't help it and moaned again, while pushing your head back against his hand. Once he was done, he replaced the shower head and grabs a wash cloth and fills it with soap. Switching positions, he keeps his arm around your waist to hold you up.

You look wearily at him as he presses the cloth against your shoulder pressing down to scrub the dirt off. "I'm wearing boxers out of necessity," he gruffly replies.

"I'm too tired for riddles Leon."

He looks at you intensely, "you need sleep and I know this. However, I'm rubbing on your wet body in the shower. It makes me want to do things to keep you awake. I want to find out what else I can do to make you moan like that. I want to find every single sensitive area on your body and see how far I can push you before you beg me to stop. I want..." he pauses taking a deep breath. "But I only have so much self control, so the boxers stay on."

You looked at him stunned. "Holy...shit" you breath out. 

"But instead, I'm going to get you clean and to bed for some much needed sleep and when you wake up, I'm going to cook you some food."

Your mind goes blank as he washes you. You barely register as he moves you around to clean different parts. When you're finally rinsed off he help you out of the shower and throws a towel around your shoulders. 

"We still need to talk," you barely whisper.

He stops drying you off for a moment before resuming. "I know. We'll have plenty of time to do so after you rest."

You frown, "but-"

"No." He says sternly. "Sleep. Food. Then we can talk."

You sigh. You're still swaying on your feet. Just the little bit of pressure he's using to dry you off is knocking you over to where he still has to keep a grip on you. 

"I promise I'll talk as long as you want me to. And if I lose my voice talking, I'll text you."

You giggle and lean forward into him. "Ok."

"Ok," he smiles back. "Up you go." Leon lifts you off your feet and walks you to your bed. "I forgot your clothes," he says as he lays you down.

"Screw 'em," you mumble.

He sighs as he leaves and within seconds he's back pulling on the covers. You groan at him. "Come on Y/N just this one last thing and I'll leave you alone."

He roughly shoves a shirt over your head and you finally move to somewhat help him. Shorts are being pulled over your legs and you use what little energy you have left to pull your butt off the bed so he can slide then over your hips.

You hear him move around the room, not really caring what he's doing. You however realize that its gotten a bit darker, so he must've covered the window with something. The bed dents as he climbs in and turns towards you.

"Nope," he says as he rearranges you to where you're facing his chest and he pulls your wet hair out of the way. "I swear it's like touching seaweed."

You snort and was going to reply but the smell of Leon was comfortable and the warmth coming off of him was too much. You felt something warm touch your forehead and you were out.


	17. Chapter 17

You wake up slowly stretching out your stiff limbs. Running your hand across your face there's something wet next to your ear. 'What? Was I drooling? Gross.' You give yourself another minute to stretch feeling your bones pop back into the places they should've been. 

Slowly, like in a daze, the memories drifted back to you from what happened the night before. Leon had been kind and helpful. Even though his confession made your toes curl. You had hoped that meant he wanted to stay. That maybe the two of you would be officially together now.

The thought alone made you get out of bed. It was still really dark out and you quietly made your way to the bathroom to clean off your face. Flicking the light back off, you pass by Leon asleep on the couch.

You contemplated for just a moment on waking him up. But checking the time, it was 3am. 'Let him sleep.' You quietly move to the coffee pot, bent of having some precious dark liquid. Popping open the lid you breath in the coffee grounds. 'Oh how I've missed you.'

You started digging around for a filter when you feel a hand lightly touching your waist. You turn to see Leon's half asleep form standing close behind you. "You should be sleeping," you quietly whisper.

Leon makes a noise that might've been a no and grabs the pot to fill it with water. You finally find a filter and fill it with coffee as he dumps the water in the tank and turns it on.

Waiting, you take the time to really study him. Leon's leaning against the counter to help support his weight. His eyes are still closed. You smile at him even though he doesn't see it. His hair's a wreck from sleep and almost as soon as you noticed he's scratching through the strands, putting them back into something closer to normal. You liked him like this, relaxed, disheveled, a little bit of moonlight highlighting his face. 

You get a little distracted by the sweatpants he's wearing along with all the tanned skin showing since he was shirtless. When you finally looked back at his face, you met his now open eyes. You smile a bit embarrassed but move to him to give him a hug. "Sorry, you're just pretty."

"Shhhh," Leon says wrapping you up in a hug. You smile wider and keep quiet, letting the gurgling of the coffee pot break the silence. 

Once it's done, Leon moves you out of the way to fill two mugs and nudges you with his hip towards the couch. You're pulling the blanket out of the way as he sets the mugs down and heavily sits back down. Grabbing your arm, he tugs to pull you down with him and throws the blanket over the both of you.

You huff and grab the coffee for you and him as he settles to where he's most comfortable. Leon huffs back and grabs the mugs back out of your hands and sets them back down. You give him a questioning look but he ignores it and lifts you up to sit down between his legs. He pulls the blanket up before reaching for the coffee again, pressing a warm mug into your hands.

You shake your head and take a little sip mumbling "bossy ass" into the mug. Leon makes an agreeing noise before taking a sip of his own. You smile and lean back a little against his chest. His arm immediately comes around you to rest on your hip.

You let the silence stretch as you two enjoy your coffee. You can feel his thumb moving back and forth slowly across your hip bone. Leon's almost making you sleepy again as you slightly move with his breathing. You were warm, comfy, and had coffee. It was perfect.

The two of you sat there for hours only moving to get more coffee. It was almost daylight before you realized you were starving. Determined not to ruin the mood you ignore it but after a while your stomach decided to let you know audibly. A low rumble broke the silence and you could feel Leon silently chuckle at it.

"I think I felt it." Leon whispers beside your head. You sigh in response. "Come on sweetheart, move so I can get up and get you some food."

'Sweetheart?' You raise your eyebrow in question but does as he says. He moves without looking at you and you settle in the warm spot he left behind.

Your mind starts going a million miles a minute wondering what he has decided, when you two were going to start talking, and many other scenarios on what could happen before you stubbornly stop it. 'If he didn't want to be here, he wouldn't be. Obviously it has to be good right? He said he wanted to talk after he got back, he just had to wait longer for me.'

You purposefully try to blank your mind as you watch Leon cook breakfast on the stove. Thankfully, he was a great distraction especially shirtless. You could focus on the way his muscles moved as he moved around the kitchen. Plus the way his pants were slung low on his hips was enough to make your mouth water.

Earlier than you would've liked, breakfast was done. You could've happily sat there for a few more hours watching him, but your stomach had other ideas. On cue, it rumbles again and he chuckles setting your plates on the table. "Let's not upset the beast anymore."

You smile and move to the table bringing the blanket with you. Leon rolls his eyes as you wrap it around yourself trying to keep as warm as possible while still leaving room for you to grab a fork and eat. You give him a look daring him to say something but he ignores it and starts eating his breakfast. 'That's what I thought.' You win this time.

The two of you didn't talk over breakfast which was just as well since you wouldn't have been able to over shoveling food in. It wasn't until your first bite that you realize exactly how starving you were. So much so that you had a second plate. 

When you finally pushed your plate away, Leon was long ago done and looking at you with an amused smile. You chuckle, "sorry, I guess I didn't realize how hungry I've gotten."

"It's fine. I don't know when the last time you ate was and you've been asleep close to a day and a half now."

Your mouth opens a bit in surprise, "really?? I've been asleep that long?"

He nods, "yep, when did you sleep last?"

You think back, "I'm not sure. I was trying to figure that out in the shower but everything was really fuzzy. I think it was something like three days but I don't know."

Leon nods, "I could tell it had been a while. You couldn't stand anymore. You were probably on the verge of hallucinating if you had stayed awake any longer."

"Well the last thing I remember is something warm touching my head. I guess you kissed me goodnight...and that was it."

Leon scratches an itch on the back of his neck, "yeah you were gone after that. I had to move to the couch after a bit."

You could feel your cheeks heat up, "I think I was drooling."

"And snoring loudly."

"Oh god...I'm sorry." You press your hands to your cheeks to try to help the blush go down.

"Don't be. You were exhausted. You were just sleeping seriously."

You laugh, "I guess. But still. That's not cute at all."

It was Leon's turn to laugh, "neither was that smell coming off you when you got back but that's just what happens."

"Ugh, yeah I bet. I didn't have a chance to shower or even dunk in a lake the whole two weeks I was gone." You curl your nose. "I don't like Africa."

Leon smiles gently at you. "I bet you don't. But at least it was warm which you seem to enjoy."

You scoff, "I did at first but man, it was a nightmare."

You spend the rest of the morning telling him about your mission and only stall when you met up with Chris. You entertained the thought of not telling him for just a split second but you knew you had to.

"I um, after I killed the bat thing I realized that it was actually Chris I was saving. And some woman he was assigned with."

"Well that was lucky for him. I bet he was glad to see you."

Leon's tone was carefully controlled. You could tell he was being neutral on purpose. 

"He um, he kissed me when we got back to the base. It happened so quickly and I didn't realize but when I did...I didn't kiss him back." You carefully eye Leon but his face was expertly guarded and closed off. "If I had known I wouldn't have let it happen. It was just sudden and I...didn't have time to stop him."

You wait for any sort of response but Leon was stubbornly quiet. "I told him that it couldn't happen between us, that I didn't think of him in that way. I grew up with him. He's my brother, nothing more. So I let him in know that I was...um...falling-in-love-with-someone-else." The last part came out in such a rush that you didn't know if it was even coherent.

Leon blows out a breath before moving to grab more coffee for himself and you. You sat there nervously hoping he would break the silence. When he didn't, you kept talking. "I understand if you are mad. I would be too if some girl kissed you. Hell I'd probably find her and break her jaw. But I had no clue he was going to do that. Just...will you please say something before I explode here?"

Leon's jaw tightens but that's all you see breaking the mask he's wearing. After what felt like an eternity, he moves beside you and tilts your face up to him. He plants a chaste kiss on your lips before sitting back down. "Thank you for telling me."

Confused you squirm in your seat. "Are you upset with me?"

"You? No. I may have to have words with him though."

"Oh...so what...what would you say to him?" Leon meets your eyes knowing what you were asking. You drop your gaze, not knowing what to think. You were hopeful it was good but some part of you still let doubt creep in. 'He's here. He wouldn't be here otherwise. Calm yourself Y/N.'

"Answer me this first." You meet Leon's eyes again and give him a slight nod. "Are you sure?"

Your brows furrow, "am I sure what?"

"Are you sure that this is what you want?" Leon says while slightly gesturing to himself. "I can be a bit of a handful."

Your heart starts beating rapidly. You couldn't keep the smile off your face. "I know that. So can I."

Leon returns your smile with almost a sad one of his own. "I feel like you'd be happier with someone more...normal."

You scoff, "you obviously don't know me very well Leon. What about me or my past was normal? I couldn't handle that very well."

Leon studies you hearing the truth in your words. "I don't want to see you hurt."

You narrow your eyes. "Don't be selfish, Leon. People hurt each other. Its the way you deal afterwards. You can't keep to yourself your whole life." You pause taking a deep breath. "I happen to think you may be worth the possibility of getting hurt or whatever may happen."

Surprise registers on Leon's face for half a second before he catches it. You wait patiently as you could almost see him thinking things over. "Thank you. I don't think anyone's told me that I was worth it."

Leon's voice was quiet, almost sad. "You should have been. You're a good man Leon."

He gives the table a wry smile. "So at the risk of sounding really cheesy, will you be my girlfriend?"

Your heart leaps, "depends." You couldn't keep the huge smile from forming, "I will if you don't mind being my boyfriend."

Leon laughs then, finally meeting your eyes. "It does sound super cheesy."

"Yeah," you chuckle with him. "I'm ok with that."

Leon moves coming around the table to you. He picks you up, blanket and all, and heads over to the couch. Sitting down with you, he starts pushing your long hair out of your face.

"It's a nest, I need to have it cut."

"If you want.." Leon pauses to lean forward and give you a tender kiss. You resist the urge to chase his lips as he pulls away. "I happen to like the nest."

"Well then...I might have to rethink cutting it." You give him another megawatt smile. You were giddy. He actually wanted you. You of all people. Hell he even asked to be his girlfriend in the most cheesiest way possible and you were ecstatic.

Leon smiles at you, "what is it?"

"It's nothing. I'm just happy is all."

"Hmmm." Leon runs his hand across your jaw letting his thumb brush against your lips. "Me too."

You give his thumb a light kiss, "good."

"So...you still have Chris's number?"

You laugh, "no way Agent Kennedy."

Leon narrows his eyes, "I can just take it you know. At least I asked first."

You give him a haughty look, "we weren't technically together then. Plus, I've been meaning to ask if you would want to come with me for Thanksgiving or Christmas...to see my dad?"

Leon gasps sarcastically, "I just asked you out! Don't you think it's too soon?"

It was your turn to narrow your eyes. "Chris might be there."

"Then yeah, I'm coming."

You smack his shoulder while laughing. "You're going to be a huge pain in my ass."

"You were the one who was SO SURE I was worth it." Leon gives you a shit-eating grin.

"How?" you ask on a laugh. "How can you be so full of yourself and then be a scared little boy at the same time?"

Leon scoffs, "who said I was scared?"

You look at him seriously, "nobody. Nobody had to." Leon purposefully blanks his face. "Please don't do that with me anymore."

"Do what Y/N?"

You gesture to his face, "this. I know you have to because of your job and all. But it's really frustrating to not know what you're thinking. Or to even have a clue. I want the real you. Screwed up emotions or thoughts and all."

Leon stares at you for a little before giving a tiny nod. "I'll try."

You give him a sweet smile and lean towards him giving him a small kiss. You pull away just enough to let you speak, your lips still brushing against his, "thank you, that's all I can ask for."

Leon catches your lips again and all thought goes out the window. You get lost in the feeling and barely realize that he had untangled the blanket to wrap his arms around you. Leaning back into the couch, Leon pulls you down with him to where you're laying over the top of him. He moves to free one of his arms to pull your hair back holding it at the base of your neck.

Tentatively you press your tongue against his lips  
and almost whimper as he meets it with his own. Immediately you press him for more, but Leon slowly backs off sitting both of you upright again. Giving you one last kiss, he pulls away.

You open your eyes to give him a half frustrated half what the hell look. Leon smiles and kisses you on the forehead. "I'm sorry. I want to do this right. Take you to dinner and go on dates."

You clench your teeth, "you can't be serious."

"Oh I am. Very serious."

You groan moving off of him, frustrated. "I swear to god Leon."

"Don't get upset. I'm worth it remember?"

You snap your head back towards his stupid smug face. "You better hope we have dental cause I'm about to knock a few teeth loose if you keep looking at me like that."

Leon lets out a huge laugh and despite yourself, you felt a tiny smile start to form. "Come on," he says pulling you to your feet. "Let's go do some boring couple crap. Let me stuff you full of hot cocoa and cupcakes and buy you some sparkly shit."

You do laugh this time. "Some sparkly shit huh?" Leon shrugs. "I guess I could come with you."

"That's my girl," he says on a smile as you leave the couch.

Oddly enough that little praise was enough to make your earlier anger dissapate. 'Oh god Y/N. You're never going to be able to let this man go. You've done it now.'

You sigh at yourself opening the closet door to find something to wear. 'Yeah, you're in trouble.'


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is stupidly sweet and I can't believe I wrote it. Everythings been so dark and bloody and angsty that I felt like they needed a break. It might be the dumbest chapter I've ever written. Enjoy your tooth rotting gag inducing cute couple antics chapter.

\-----Fast forward a month and a half-----

Opening the door you rush inside and set your bags down heavily. You do a little dance to shrug out of your coat and knock the snow off your boots. "Leon?" you call out and pause listening for a reply. When none came you smile and hurriedly pull the stuff you bought out of the bag.

Cutting open the boxes you pull a tiny tree out along with its cheap plastic stand. Neither of you had had time to decorate for Christmas. Not that you ever did, but someday you would love to have a place where you could. You wanted a big beautiful tree that lit up the place at night, stuffed full of ornaments and presents. You wanted garland along the staircase and christmas lights lining the house. You had seen them in movies before and you always thought Christmas was the prettiest time of year.

You set up the tree on one of your end tables. It definitely wasn't what you dreamed of, being two foot tall and not at all full, but it was something. You string the battery powered lights and start placing the ornaments on. Frowning as soon as you put one ball on, you realize that you bought way too many ornaments. And most of them were too big. Shrugging to yourself you were determined to make it work.

Half an hour passes and you finally step back to look at it. You immediately start laughing to yourself. The little tree didn't look like a tree anymore. Its branches were barely sticking out under the mountain of ornaments you place on it. It basically looked like an ornament pile with twigs. 'Screw it, I still like it.'

Throwing the boxes away, you start to search for some batteries in your apartment, but it was cut short by the sound of a key unlocking the door. Leon follows in with a few bags of his own that he sets down on the table.

"I would say that this is the most snow we've had in years but I can't remember if I was here or somewhere else," Leon says as he unwraps his scarf.

You cross your ankles and lean against the kitchen counter. Leon's got snow all over his hair and his jacket. The collar was pulled up around his neck to help keep out the cold. For once he wasn't wearing a leather jacket and you thought the wool coat he had on looked good with his blue jeans and boots.

"Well either way, you're looking pretty handsome today Agent Kennedy," you say with a smirk. 

Leon side-eyes you as he sets his scarf down on the table, "is that so?" 

Before you could reply, Leon moves quickly towards you wrapping you up in his arms and shaking all the snow off on top of you. You squeal and try to push him off but he's much stronger than you. Plus you didn't want to use any tactics to get him to let go, as it usually resulted in someone being hurt. "Leon stop!" you yell half laughing.

In response, Leon presses his ice cold face into your neck making you gasp and squirm more. "Oh my god Leon, get off of me before I hurt you!"

Leon laughs and releases you but the damage is already done. You have snow melting all over the top of your head and clothes. He goes to hang his coat up and runs his fingers through his hair dampening the strands.

"Thank you for that. I'm all wet and cold now," you pout at him.

Leon gives you a low smile, "I can fix that for you sweetheart." Coming back towards you, he lifts you up onto the counter wrapping your legs around his hips. Pushing your hair out of the way he starts placing wet open mouthed kisses on your neck. You gasp, feeling heat gather low in your stomach. Goosebumps raise on your arms as he continues, pressing a hand on the small of your back making you sit up straighter. Grabbing Leon's jaw you force his head up and push your lips against his finding his tongue. Leon makes a sound of approval against your mouth as you push fully against his body. 

Slowly you realize Leon's backing off and you do the same. Giving one last peck on his lips you pull back away from him. You let out a slightly frustrated sigh even though you're pretty much used to it now. Its been heavy makeout sessions and just a little bit of touching this whole time and you were about to scream from the unfairness of it all. Several times you were left on the verge of burning and to be honest, having to change out of the underwear you were wearing. If Leon knew, he didn't say anything.

"I got us some lunch," he says a little breathily.

'So the robot can be flustered,' you think. "Oh? What did you get us?"

"Chinese."

"Yum! Did you get-"

"Yes. I got you some crab rangoon." Leon pulls you off the counter and sets you back on your feet. Turning he goes to grab the food but spots your Christmas tree on the table. "What the hell is that?"

You ignore him for a moment to grab some plates, "its our Christmas tree."

"Is it?" he asks incredulously. "Where's the tree?"

You set the plates down and put your hand on your hip looking at it. "It's under the ornaments."

He gives you a disbelieving look. "Are you sure?"

You roll your eyes, "yes, Leon. I put it up. I just..." you chew on your lip studying the tree. "I may or may not have went a little overboard when I picked out the ornaments."

"You don't say," Leon replies dryly.

You huff, "I just wanted a tree and now we have one. I was looking for batteries when you got home."

"What do you need batteries for?"

"The lights." Leon gives you a puzzled look and you flail your hand in the direction of the tree. "You know, for the lights on the tree."

"You got battery operated lights?"

"It's like four days til Christmas, plus it's a tiny tree!"

Leon eyes the mountain of ornaments in a tree shaped form. "I guess I'll have to put your presents under the table since they won't fit under the tree."

You narrow your eyes at him, "look it's not like you were going to put up a tree. So I did. And no, it's not the best one ever but at least we got one."

"Two."

"What?" you almost snap.

"Two. We have two." Leon pulls the plastic down from one of the bags to where you can see a small picture of a Christmas tree on the outside of a box.

"You got us a tree?"

"Yeah," he says flicking his eye to the one of the table. "But I guess we have a his and hers tree now?"

"We can take some ornaments off mine to put on yours!"

Leon makes a face, "I bought ornaments, plus I don't want my tree ending up like that."

You scoff, "my tree not good enough for the high and mighty Leon Kennedy?"

"No it's not," he replies with a self satisfied grin as your phone rings. "You better get that."

You narrow your eyes at him but grab your phone, "we're not done" you answer the call on speakerphone "-Yes?"

Hunnigan's voice comes through your speaker. "Hey there Y/N!"

"Happy early Christmas, Hunnigan!" you say cheerily.

"You too! I've got an early Christmas present for you!"

"What? Hunnigan you didn't have to!"

"Well it's not technically FROM me but I'm delivering it."

You tilt your head a bit in confusion, "oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Agent Kennedy will not be assigned during Christmas as he got listed on vacation along with you."

Leon was fixing to say something but you interrupted before he could. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah a whole week off together! Maybe he'll loosen his strings a bit and actually sleep with you instead of just leaving you high and dry. Tis the season and all."

Hunnigan laughs as you instantly go bright red. 'Oh my god!' You carefully meet Leon's eyes and see the mirth dancing in them. You wanted to bury yourself in a hole and never come back out. You and Hunnigan were becoming close friends and you had mentioned your frustration of Leon's lack of following through.

"Yeah, maybe he will loosen his strings," Leon smoothly replies.

You press your free hand to your face as you hear Hunnigan gasp, "h-hey Leon."

"You know, you could've called me instead of my girlfriend to let me know my vacation got approved."

You could feel Hunnigan's embarassment over the phone. Or maybe it was just yours spilling over.

"Given what just happened, I should have done that. Well...um Merry Christmas guys and I'll, uh, talk to you soon!"

You stare daggers at your phone seeing her hang up. 'That traitor!' You meet Leon's eyes again. "I'm going to send her coal, I swear to god."

"So you and Hunnigan have gotten close?" he smiles.

You groan, cheeks still hot. "Can we please drop this? I'm embarrassed enough."

Leon laughs, "I don't think I've ever seen you this red."

"Leon...I'm sorry."

He pulls you into a hug and kisses the top of your head. "Don't be I'm glad you've made friends."

You settled down a little bit and wrap your arms around him.

"What else did you tell her about me?"

You let out a huge groan. "Please don't."

You feel him laugh, "ok, ok. I'll drop it...for now."

You push him off of you. "Let's just eat," you say desperately your face still burning.

You see his smile, but thankfully he doesn't say a word and starts making your plate.

The both of you fall into an easy silence as you enjoy the good food. At least up until the point where Leon's trying to take one of your crab rangoons. Hovering your chopsticks in the air above his hand you give him a threatening look. "Don't do it Kennedy."

Leon pauses, his hand still on your food. "I got six of these you know."

You half shrug, "should've gotten twelve then if you wanted some."

He eyes the chopsticks that are pointed down, hovering above his hand "it would take a considerable amount of strength to be able to pierce my hand with that."

"I can at least leave a nasty bruise."

You stare into his eyes challenging him to take it. Leon smiles and slowly releases it making a show of using the same hand to pick up his own chopsticks. "Chopstick battle for it?"

You relax your arm letting your elbow fall on the table, "what even is that?"

"Words. Words are tough," Leon says mocking how you phrased your question.

"I said words, correctly!" You say affronted.

"Yeah, but your sentence structure needs some work."

"It wasn't a sentence Leon, it was a question," you reply in a mocking tone. "You still knew what I was talking about grammar nazi."

"Just because you're losing this argument doesn't mean you can start calling people names like nazi," Leon says as he quickly swipes the crab rangoon and takes a bite. "It's really unbecoming of you and I had hoped as my girlfriend you were better than that."

You stare daggers at him while he chews, "that was cheap, even for you Leon."

Leon shrugs and was about to reply when you flick some food off your chopsticks in his direction. The beef and broccoli smack his face with a satisfyingly wet flopping sound. You immediately start laughing as the broccoli falls off but the sliver of beef sticks to his nose. Leon looked as shocked as you had ever seen him.

"Oh-my-god-your-face!!" you wheezed in between bouts of laughter. Your eyes were starting to water.

"You're gonna get it," Leon says in a deadly tone.

"You-started-it," you say trying to wipe the tears from your eyes.

Leon moves slightly and you launch yourself out of your chair putting your back towards the door. You needed to make sure you had an escape route.

Leon calmly wipes away the piece of beef along with the juices it left behind. You start snickering again thinking back to the face he made. At the sound, Leon's eyes dart towards you.

You barely see him start to stand and you turn throwing open your door and running down the hallway. Reaching the stairs you're leaping steps at a time, hearing his footsteps close behind. You laugh loudly, probably pissing off everyone in the building. You sprint to the main door pushing it open into the blistering cold.

The shock makes you stop for a half a second which was all Leon needed. You felt yourself get grabbed and the world was spinning as you're turned and falling. Leon spins you to where he hits the snow with you on top. It doesn't do much to help protect you from the snow that flew into the air when the both of you land.

You gasp at the cold. "Oh my god Leon, let me go!" 

"Never!" Leon shouts drawing the attention of people walking by. Leon starts grabbing handfuls of snow to throw on you.

You scream and shiver against the onslaught trying to throw snowballs at him as well. You could hear people chuckling from the sidewalk as you two wrestle around in the snow.

"Say you're sorry!" Leon warns as he starts pressing snow into your hair.

You used every bit of strength you had, since Leon wasn't light by any means, and flipped the both of you to where he was laying in the snow. You immediately started shoveling snow in his face. "What was that?!" You tease. "I couldn't hear you!"

Leon sputters against the onslaught and blindly reaches for you getting a grip on your shirt. He pulls as you let out a yelp, landing on top of him. You're laughing happily as you wipe some of the residual snow off his face. Leon sits up bringing you with him and his beaming smile makes your heart leap.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Leon says quietly almost like a confession.

You blush a little at his compliment, "you're not so bad yourself."

Leon slowly pulls you into a lingering kiss that almost makes you forget that you're freezing. Pulling back you hear an elderly voice from the sidewalk.

"Look how cute they are, John! Reminds me of how me and you were at that age."

"And forty years later you're still the prettiest thing I've ever laid my eyes on."

You turn in just enough time to see the old man place a tender kiss on his wife's cheek as they're walking together. She scoffs but clearly doesn't mean it by the flush on her face. You turn back to Leon, who was still looking at you. You smile tenderly at him still shivering.

"Let's get back inside to the warmth."

You nod as he stands up with you in his arms and sets you down on your feet. You brush off as much as you could before you get back inside but you were soak at this point. Eyeing Leon, he didn't look much better with part of his hair plastered to the side of his face.

You were shaking uncontrollably by the time you got back into your apartment. Leon seemed annoyingly unfazed by the cold. While pulling your boots off, Leon comes back with towels and you thankfully grab them and move to the bathroom.

Stripping down you throw your wet heavy clothes in the corner and dry off. You towel your hair as much as you could which left it in a bit of a frizzy mess. Shaking your head at your reflection you realize you didn't have any clothes. Just the towel. Wrapping the towel around you, you crack the door open. "Avert your eyes, I'm naked," you call out.

"Hold on," Leon calls from what sounded like your bedroom. "I'm just trying to find my phone."

Opening the door fully, you walk into your bedroom. "What?"

Leon turns with his towel around around his waist and you almost sigh out loud at the sight.

"You lied, you're not naked. I was going to get a picture."

"You creep," you say smiling at him.

He chuckles in response, "well I'm having a bit of an issue here."

"Oh?" you say wiggling your eyebrows at him.

"Not that kind of issue, you perv," he laughs. "I don't have any clothes here."

"Oh?" You repeat the same thing as before causing Leon to shake his head in exasperation. You laugh taking pity on him. "Well you can just hang around in that....literally." You immediately start laughing at your own joke while Leon sighs.

"They're going to fire me for dating a twelve year old," he mumbles under his breath.

"I guess I need to make space for some of your clothes," you say while your laughter dies out. "I would throw yours in the dryer real quick but it broke a few days ago and they haven't replaced it."

Leon gives you an are-you-kidding-me look. "I have some stretchy pants that I'm sure would fit," you say as you start rummaging around your drawers. "Here!" You hold up a pair or sweat pants to him as he takes them gingerly.

He bends over to pull them on up under the towel, before removing it from around his waist. You choke back a laugh. Your pants while a little long on you came to mid shin on him. They were stretched out quite a bit around his waist, not to mention really tight and outlining his thighs and everything else. "They're....um..." you eye the very obvious bulge pushing against the fabric, "they're fine."

Leon looks less than amused, "they say love in purple letters."

Trying not smile but failing miserably you eye the lettering on the left leg,"...yeah...yeah it does." You could feel the laughter shining your eyes as you make contact with his. 

Leon pressing his lips in a thin line daring you to laugh. You try to give him a nonchalant shrug, "they're fine, we'll just make a break for your place. No one will notice."

Leon's jaw drops a little in surprise, "no one will-my dick is pretty much out! I think someone might notice!"

You lost it, bursting with laughter. "No!" you say weakly, "you have a coat. It'll cover that" you try to say while laughing. It came out as a weird screeching sound instead.

Leon rolls his eyes leaving the room. You push the door shut behind him, leaning against it while you try to regain your breath. You change into regular clothes before coming back out. Leon had already put the food up and put his boots back on with his wool jacket and was standing in front of the door, keys in hand.

You quickly avert your eyes to the floor at the sight. The jacket did cover up the bulge but just barely. But seeing his boots come up to his ankles, while your pants just came down to a few inches below his knees was hilarious. You grab your stuff quietly trying not to focus on him. You pick up the christmas tree that he bought. "We'll just put this one up in your apartment." Taking a last look around, you bite your inner cheek and look at him. "I'm ready if you are?"

Leon snorts in response clearly still unhappy with having to leave your apartment wearing your pants. He locks up and you start down the stairs first with him close behind. You passed a woman who nodded at you in greeting, did a double take at Leon, but thankfully kept walking without saying anything.

You catch Leon's expression once outside heading towards his car. It was carefully neutral but you could see the annoyance bubbling beneath the surface. Throwing the bags in the backseat, you climb in waiting on him to start the car. Shivering you turn the vents to your hands wishing there was more heat coming out.

Trying to make the situation better you look at Leon. "We're pretty much through this now. Just your apartment, so halfway there, and you can change in your own pants."

Leon groans, "it's like I'm doing the walk of shame and I didn't even get any."

You laugh, "awww don't be embarrassed. They look better on you than they do on me. They...accentuate your features." You give him a beaming smile.

Leon rolls his eyes, "they could've been worse I guess."

You nod, setting back in the seat that's starting to warm up. "Yeah I had leggings too."

********

You make it back into Leon's apartment without another incident and Leon quickly changes into his own clothes. Starting coffee, you smile as he emerges from the bedroom in his own sweats pulling a shirt over his head. "Today's been fun," you say cheekily. 

He meets your eyes clearly missing your point. "Did you want to do anything? I could change again." 

"No, I'm cold. I've had enough of the outside for now."

Leon sighs, "you're always cold." Leon nudges you to grab a few mugs. "So what are we doing on our vacation?"

'Our vacation', sounded amazing to you. "Well, I'm still wanting to see my dad and have you come with me?" you ask hopeful.

Leon's jaw tics slightly. "Are you sure? We could fly down to Maldives. It'll be warm, you can swim in the ocean and bury your feet in the sand. You can lay out in the sun while people bring you food and drinks all day. And at night the water glows. They have a bioluminescent beach."

You were almost...almost swayed. The thought of being at a beach, in the sun, secluded away with Leon was pretty much the best daydream ever. But...Robert...your face drops. "I haven't seen my dad in a while. I miss him."

"Shit," Leon says rubbing his hand over his eyes.

"What you mean shit?" you ask confused.

"Nothing...I just realized that I hate that look on your face and I'm more than likely going to do whatever you ask."

You give him a tentative smile, "you'll go then?" You see Leon give you an unhappy nod. "Robert's a good guy, I don't understand why you're so reluctant to meet him."

"You're his daughter, his little girl. Dad's don't like boyfriends, ever. At least not at first." 

"Robert's different," you wave your hand in dismissal, "you'll see. Plus I'm only his by adoption."

Leon looked unconvinced. "Sure he is and that doesn't matter."

Ignoring him, you search around for his laptop.

"What're you looking for?"

"I gotta buy plane tickets if we're going to go. They're probably sold out too being this close to Christmas." You finally see it on the nightstand on his bed. Grabbing it, you turn it on and pull back the covers to bury yourself in his bed. Typing in your search you start clicking through any open seats on different flights.

Leon comes in with coffee, carefully sitting on the bed beside you and holds out a mug. You take it distractedly, focused on the task at hand. After a while, you let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, we can fly there but we have to take to seperate flights on different airlines."

Leon shuts the laptop and moves it off your lap, "I'll drive us then."

You purse your lips, "it's a six hour drive, flying will be quicker."

Leon shakes his head, "it's OUR vacation. I'm not getting on a seperate flight."

You smile, "you can deal with not having me around for two hours. We've been apart way longer than that before."

"Didn't you hear me say OUR vacation? I'm not leaving your side." Leon moves to set your mug on the the table as well as his. "Plus I still miss you no matter what length of time you're gone."

"Aren't you sweet?" you say as Leon wraps an arm around your stomach. "When do you want to leave?"

You feel him shrug, "up to you." He pauses as you think it over. "We could go early Christmas Eve. We'll leave at 4 and be there by 10?"

You groan. "So we have to get up at 3? No thank you."

Leon pulls you close against him. "You can sleep in the car. I'll let you."

"I'll think about it," you say on a sigh.

You fall silent, enjoying being held and warm. You couldn't believe that you were finally going to make it home after all this time. It's been forever it feels like. You were lost in memories before you knew it and belatedly realized that Leon was talking to you. "What?"

Leon moves to look at your face, "did you hear anything I said?"

You make a show of thinking, "that would be a negative ghostrider."

Leon sighs, "daydreaming about Chris, huh?"

You wrinkle your nose, "no I was just thinking about the years I spent at the base." You smirk, "so yeah a little about Chris."

Leon digs his fingers into your side and you resist the urge to squirm, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. "Do you think he'll be there?"

You smile, "you hope he will?"

"Yeah I do," he says a little too calmly.

You shake your head, "I'm not gonna get into this." Leon and Chris could both handle themselves. Leon wasn't the type to pick a fight unless it was started for him. Although Chris could be hot headed enough to start one. You shrug to yourself, it was a worry for another day. "What did you say anyway?"

"I asked if you wanted to go see a movie or something and have dinner out tonight?"

"Oh...I guess. If you want to?" 

Leon eyes your expression, "I know it's cold."

Smiling you dip down closer to the covers trying to hide it, "I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to," he replies blandly. "More coffee?"

You grab your mug and hand it to him. "Please?"

He studies your face for a minute before placing a quick kiss on your forehead and leaving the bed.

"What was that look for?" you ask as he's walking out.

"Nothing sweetheart," he calls from outside his room.

'Ugh. Men,' you think with a smile.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few things before we get into the story- EXPLICIT SEX warning! There, you've been warned. I tried to make this as real as possible as well. Which means no awkward positions that would cause an extremely flexible person to go 'uh no' or at the very least get cramps. It's the reader's first time and it's weird, amazing, and a little silly. Please keep in mind that this is only my 2nd time writing a sex scene and it's difficult to write a good one. Plus I am trying to stay very true to my characters personalities even during this. As always my work is not beta'd and all mistakes are from my lack of skill in proofreading. 
> 
> Also if you don't mind, leave me some feedback on this part. I could really use it cause this may have been the toughest chapter I've wrote to date. Love you all!

You were just shy of buzzed by the time the both of you got back to his apartment. You had some drinks with dinner and so did Leon, but oddly enough he refrained from his usual drinking habits. Just two glasses of scotch for him, which was nothing. Two glasses of wine for you, left you in the relaxed, silly state that you were currently in.

You pull your jacket off laying it on the back of the kitchen chair instead of the hook on the wall. You were struggling with your boots when your eye catches the Christmas tree that he had bought earlier.

"Hey! Let's go ahead and put your tree up!" you exclaim as you finally toe off your last shoe.

Leon shrugs and pulls a pocket knife out of his jeans to cut the box open. You meanwhile go through the ornaments he picked out. "What is this? The tree of death?"

All of the ornaments were either black, gray, or a dark blue. But there was a tiny package of nine white Christmas balls.

Leon shrugs, "I didn't want a bunch of glitter in my apartment."

Looking at him fluffing the tree on the kitchen table, you tear off the tags on the ornaments. Seeing you struggle with the plastic ties, Leon hands you his pocket knife. "Can you be trusted not to cut yourself?"

"Hey! I didn't drink that much!" you protest. 

Leon wisely stays quiet and goes back to messing with the tree. You cut through the ties easily and grab a handful of ornaments. You slide the pocket knife in Leon's back pocket giving it a small tap and grinning cheekily at him.

"You good," Leon asks, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Yep," you say popping the P at the end. 

You start to put some ornaments on when Leon stops you. "I don't think so. I saw what happened to your tree."

"I had a miscalculation on the amount I needed."

"Uh-huh, why don't you just hand them to me?" Leon asks but he holds his hand out anyway, like it was an order.

You roll your eyes, but start handing him ornaments. "You know, I thought you'd be less bossy over time. But I see I was wrong."

Leon hums, "I'm only bossy when I'm right...which is all the time."

You hold the next ornament away from him, refusing to place it in his hand. "You're not as cute as you think you are."

Leon grabs for it but you quickly move it behind your back. "I don't think you want to play this game Y/N," Leon says dangerously.

The beginnings of a shiver start to form and you stubbornly ignore it. You smile a little, hiding how his words affected you, "I'm not sure what you mean, Leon."

Leon moves to grab for it again, and you deftly move to the side out of his reach. You watch as Leon's eyes shine with mischeif. "You were warned."

You move around the kitchen table, using it as a shield from Leon. He smiles and vaults the table grabbing for you. You twist before running into the living room, his fingertips missing you by inches. You laugh and jump over the couch, turning towards him.

Leon was closer than you expected and you turn into a face full of his shirt as his momentum smacks you into the wall. Leon's hand on the back of your head shields you from the worst of the impact. But you couldn't say the same for the ornament in your hand that was immediately crush in your combined weight. 

"Look what you did," you chide as you open up your hand to show Leon. 

Leon brushes the shards from your hand barely sparing a glance at it, before moving your hand up over your head. You barely realize that he had just made sure you weren't cut, before Leon ducks his head to catch your lips. You open willingly, humming your approval.

You could've sworn that you were melting on the spot when Leon's tongue pushed in to find yours. Using your free hand, you wrap it around his waist to hold him close. Leon almost instantly moves and removes his lips from yours. You sigh thinking he was pulling away again, but Leon crouches a bit to grab the back of your legs. You feel him lift before you're pressed back against the wall with a punishing kiss. 

You wrap your arms around his neck, fingers moving through his short hair in the back. You match his fervent kisses with your own, not caring in the least that they were becoming a bit sloppy in their urgency.

You were lost in heat of what you were doing. Leon tasted of scotch and between his cologne and the feeling of him pressed roughly against you, you were hyper aware of only him. Fire started settling low in your belly and you moan into the kiss, needing more. 

Leon pulls away ending the kiss, but replacing his lips on your neck. You gasp as the heat builds. Leon hums against your skin before kissing his way up the side of your neck, and taking your earlobe gently between his teeth. You dig your fingers into his shoulders, squirming a bit to get some sort of friction between your legs.

"You have to tell me Y/N," Leon says lowly, mouth still next to your ear. His tone brings goosebumps that chase their way down your arms. "I won't be able to stop if you don't." He presses more open mouth kisses to your neck as you struggle to use any sort of rational part of your brain. 

You squirm again, against his hips, needing something, anything. "Leon, please..." you breathily whine.

Leon groans digging his fingers harder into the back of your thighs. "Tell me to stop," he grinds out through gritted teeth.

You suppress a shiver on how hot that was and use what little leverage you have on the wall to push against his body, tightening your legs around his hips. You start peppering kisses on his neck, to which he moves to allow you better access, and you very lightly bite just below his ear. "Leon..." you plead again over his gasp, "please...I need you."

Leon stills before slowly meeting your eyes. Just the hunger in them was enough to bring more goosebumps. He was breathing a little heavier than normal, his pupils blown out of proportion. You had a suspicion that you looked the same. But there, past all that, was something else.

You could tell he was fighting with himself, trying to think things over. You smile a little. It was sweet, really. Leon always put you before him. Always trying to do the right thing, at the expense of what he wanted. But you wanted the same thing dammit. 

You release his neck to bring your hand to his face, your thumb barely brushing against his wet lips. You press a sweet, slow kiss to them, before pulling back to look him in the eyes again. "I'm sure," you say in a whisper. "Leon...please don't make me beg."

Something clicks in Leon's eyes. You've seen it enough times before to know that he's made a decision. "I won't. At least not this time." Leon kisses you again and removes you from the wall. 

Once you realize that he was moving the two of you to the bedroom, your heart started doing a happy dance. Or at least it felt like it. You wanted to at least fist pump the air, but given the situation you were in, it would probably kill the mood.

You smile into the kiss, hoping Leon wouldn't notice but of course he does. You're unsure of what he thought the reason of your smile was but, you were rewarded with one back as he breaks the kiss to set you down on the bed. 

Brazenly, you take off your shirt and go to take off your bra too but Leon swats at your hands. "Stop, you're going to ruin it for me."

You huff giving him a light smack on his hand. "Then get to Kennedy."

"In a minute," he murmurs. His eyes rake over you for a moment before he pushes you back against the pillows climbing over you. Leon lowers most of his weight down pushing you into the bed and resuming your earlier makeout session. 

You move one of your legs out from under him to wrap around his. He immediately digs his hips into yours. You inhale sharply at the feeling of his hardness pressing into your abdomen. You can't help but to grind back against him, "Leon," you say in half a moan and half a warning.

Leon gets the hint and chuckles slightly, while reaching behind you to unsnap your bra. "Impatient ass," he almost whispers pressing a sweet kiss to your collarbone. 

'No shit Sherlock, it's been close to a year,' you think to yourself. You arch your back a bit for him to get your bra off and he removes it from your arms before throwing it somewhere in the room. You could've sworn you see his eyes darken more but with just some moonlight filtering through his bedroom window, you couldn't be sure.

Tearing his eyes away from your chest, Leon makes quick work of undoing your jeans, and they suffer the same fate as your bra. Laying there in just your underwear, you bite down on your inner cheek, a little nervous. "Am I the only one getting naked here?" you say to hide the anxiety that seemed to flare up suddenly.

Never taking his eyes of you, Leon practically rips his shirt up over his head and pulls his jeans off a little awkwardly since he was kneeling on the bed. You hide a laugh. Leon was always graceful and smooth in his movements but apparently there wasn't a way to do that when he was kneeling on the article of clothing he wanted to remove. You see a moment of realization come to him and you look around his body to see he still had his boots on. You did laugh then.

With a slightly defeated look, Leon moves to the edge of the bed to remove his boots. You sit up, and scoot over to him as he was bent down. You lightly trace the outline of muscles on his back, being extra gentle on the places that were scarred. Not that you thought they still hurt him. 

Boots finally off as well as jeans, Leon turns to you. "I've effectively ruined the mood."

You give him a full smile, "you think so?"

Leon nods, "you're the first woman to laugh at me while I was naked."

"You're not fully naked, and I thought it was cute that you forgot about your boots."

Leon hums but doesn't say anything. You look over the expanse of skin now on display. Your pulse picks up. 'So handsome.' Rubbing your hand up his arm you scoot closer to him. Not asking for permission you trail your fingers along his shoulder, down to his chest, and finally at his abs.

"You know..." you say as you move your fingers on the indentions the muscles made in his skin, "that first time on your bike. I was having the hardest time stopping myself from doing this." You get a little lost in the memory. "I had hoped that I hid it well enough but I don't know."

"I had a suspicion but I thought it was just wishful thinking."

You look at him in surprise, "wishful thinking?"

A smirk plays on Leon's lips, "when we were sparring..." You nod remembering. "I couldn't take my eyes off you, the way you moved. Your hair was coming down and your cheeks were red...you were beautiful."

You cheeks reddened now from the compliment.

"Then you caught me off guard and flipped me on the floor...I swear it was the hottest thing to happen to me."

You laugh aloud, "seriously?!!" 

Leon laughs a little with you, "I know. But I was a bit...enamored after that."

You press a kiss to a old scar on his shoulder from a bullet wound. "I may have been enamored when you first turned around." You smile at him. "Although I thought your haircut was a bit dumb."

Leon looked offended, "dumb? You think my hair is dumb?"

"Its grown on me now," you shrug. "But yeah, how do you see properly with that long hair in the way?"

"I can't believe you think my hair is dumb," he says ignoring your question.

You laugh, "don't get your panties in a wad. I said I like it now. I couldn't imagine you without it." You reach for his face turning his head towards you so you can kiss him. "I actually think it's pretty hot," you say against his lips.

"Uh huh," Leon says unconvinced but moves the both of you to the middle of the bed. "I think all of you is hot."

You laugh a little as he starts kissing your neck and moving you to where you're sitting in his lap. "Words are tough."

"Shut up," he says as his large hands roam across your back. 

You smile pressing a kiss to his temple, as one of his hands comes around to grope your breast. You moan a little as his thumb passes across your nipple making it erect. You arch your back pushing yourself into his hand wanting more.

Leon quickly moves and closes his mouth over your breast pushing the flat of his tongue against your nipple. You suck in a breath and close your fist in a handful of his hair as the feeling travels straight between your legs. 

Leon turns to your other breast giving it the same amount of attention. You were practically panting at this point, grinding down in his lap trying to find some much needed friction.

He finally takes the hint and pushes you back against the pillows and grabs hold of your underwear to slide down your legs. Placing a hand on your inner thigh he spreads your legs, and you hear the breath push out of his lungs erractically.

'Oh my god, why is he looking at me like that?' You try to close your legs, but his hand stops you. You can feel yourself shaking but you weren't sure if it was nervousness or being turned on. You try to close your legs again and this time he lets it happen, but keeps his hand between your thighs.

"I uh-" Leon stutters, "I didn't expect you to be shaved."

You pause, confusion replacing some of your anxiety, "you've seen me naked. When I came back from Africa?"

"I know, but you weren't shaved then."

"How was I going to shave when I didn't have a shower?" You grimace at the memory. "Plus none of me was shaved, not even my legs."

"I....didn't think about that," Leon replies quietly.

He rubs his thumb back and forth on your thigh, gently pushing your legs apart again. You start shaking a bit again. 'Definitely nerves,' you think to yourself as Leon shushes you.

"Calm down, it's ok sweetheart." Leon says as he lies down on his belly between your legs. You start to move up away from him, but he grips your leg firmly not allowing you to move. "Hey," he says softly and presses a gentle kiss on your inner thigh, "it's ok, relax."

You can feel your legs slightly shaking against his face and you're breathing shallowly. Leon takes his time pressing kisses to your skin as he uses his free hand to soothingly rub along your other leg. All the while, Leon is whispering to you in soothing tones. After a few minutes, you finally stop shaking and relax. 

Leon gently scraps his teeth along the sensitive part of your inner thigh almost between your legs. You moan grabbing a fistful of sheets. You feel him pause for just a second before he licks between your folds, placing the flat of his tongue on your clit. 

You suck a harsh breath between your teeth and your hips involuntarily come off the bed. Leon, being always prepared, had placed his hand on your lowered abdomen keeping you still for the most part. 

He takes no mercy as he barely pauses from your reaction and continues to lick in between your folds. You moan loudly, your toes and hands curling as what feels like electricity shoot along your nerves. Leon shoulders his way closer making you spread your legs wide to make room for him.

Licking one long stripe up, he takes your nub into his mouth and sucks gently before flicking his tongue against it. "Fu--" you start but end on a moan.

Leon continues and keeps pushing you further. You're uncontrollably shaking now. Leon's hands are the only thing keeping you from coming off the bed. You pant as you're helpless against the onslaught. Your head's thrown roughly back on the pillow and your nails are digging into your palm. But the only thing you're aware of is the man that's currently licking between your legs. He moans against your clit and you could feel the vibration travel through your body.

You're moaning on each breath as the pressure builds and builds with no end in sight. "Please-" you practically sob, "Leon..I need-"

"Let go...it's ok...relax," he says between licks. 

"I....Leon...."you pant as he presses firmly down on your lower abdomen. You feel as he shifts his weight and inserts two fingers in you. He immediately starts flicking his tongue against your nub again.

Something snaps inside you and the pressure finally releases. You throw your head back and moan loudly biting on your lip as sparks fire on every nerve of your body. You hoarsely cry out Leon's name as you cum. 

Still shaking from the sparks you become aware that Leon's still licking at your folds, just softer than before. But it was still too much on your over sensitive nerves. You weakly try to move away from his mouth. "I can't..." you sob.

Leon finally pulls away, sitting up on the back of his legs. Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand he looks over your flushed body, still coming down from your orgasm. "Jesus christ," Leon breathes out.

He leans down and presses open mouth kisses on your abdomen and works his way up your body. Finally reaching your mouth, he gives you a tender kiss before moving off of you.

You watch as he rummages through a drawer for something. "What? What're you doing?" you ask still breathing heavily.

"Protection," Leon says as he's throwing stuff on top of the table.

Boldly you move over slightly, grabbing at his cock over his boxers. Leon ducks his head on a moan, hand going still.

You rub a finger over the head, feeling where he was already damp. "Virus, Leon."

"What?" he almost snaps.

"Virus," you say again gently, "I'm infertile because of it..." you smile at the look of ecstasy on his face as you rub him, "plus I'm clean."

Leon quickly gives up finding protection and slips out of his boxers. Bracing himself above you he lines up with your opening. "I'm clean too," he whispers above you before pressing his lips to yours. Slowly he pushes the tip in and you gasp into the kiss. Feeling your inner walls stretch, Leon tries to bring your attention to his kisses. You feel a small amount of pain the deeper he goes in and whimper against his lips.

It wasn't until he was fully in, that he releases your lips to suck in a harsh breath. You squirm a bit trying to force yourself to relax, gasping at the unfamiliar pain.

"Shhh, stay still sweetheart," Leon says as gently as he could through gritted teeth. You belatedly realize that he's forcing himself to stay still until you get used to him in you. 

Still in a little bit of pain you raise your head off the pillow to press a kiss into his neck. "Go ahead, I'm ok," you murmur against his skin.

You see Leon's arms tense as he starts to slowly move. The first couple of pumps were still a bit painful but it was quickly dissapating. You press a kiss to the arm beside your head. Looking up at him, Leon was covered in a light shine of sweat.

You pull down on his hips in a thrust and Leon moans dropping his forehead to yours. "You're positive you can't...?"

"Yeah I'm sure," you reply with a slight smile.

"Fuck Y/N can I..." he breathes out roughly not bothering to finish his question.

You had no idea what he was asking, and you didn't give a damn. The feeling of him pumping in and out was overwhelming all of your senses in the best way. "Leon..." you barely manage on a moan. Which wasn't a response in the least but who the hell would blame you for being incoherent at a time like this?

Apparently Leon took it as a yes because his started picking up the pace. You matched his sloppy kisses with your own and did your best just to hang on. Leon thrusts quickly became erratic, his hips stuttering with each thrust. He pulls away from your kiss with a ragged intake of breath before thrusting one last time, moaning into your neck.

You could feel Leon's cock twitch inside of you as he found his own release. After a few moments he stills, pressing most of his weight onto you. You welcome it though and lightly scratch your nails down his back. 

'That was one hell of a workout,' you thought as you try to settle your breathing to something closer to normal. You resist yet another urge to squeal with happiness. It finally happened and losing your virginity to Leon of all men. You couldn't help your wide smile that broke out. 'There's gotta be some sort of trophy for that.'

Leon presses a sweet kiss to your neck before pulling off of you. He gives you a confused smile, "you look like the cat that got the cream, what's up?"

"Nothing...that was just amazing is all," you say doing nothing to hide the fact that you're beaming. "We should probably do that again sometime."

Leon chuckles, "is that so? Enjoyed it huh?" Leon let's out a beaming smile of his own at your enthusiastic nod. "I may have enjoyed it myself...a little too much."

"Really? Too much?"

"Yeah, I was planning on letting you get another one in but...I couldn't refrain obviously," he says a little sheepishly, not meeting your eyes. "I wanted it to be good for you and...well...I guess it's been a while for me."

You pull Leon back to you for one last kiss. You couldn't help it. His slight bit of embarrassment may have been the cutest thing you've seen him do. "It was good for me. Really good," you smile giving the tip of his nose a peck. "What's not good is this damp spot I'm sitting in, it's getting colder by the second."

"Oh shit sorry," Leon says as he quickly leaves the bed to grab a towel. Handing one to you, you get off the bed to stand and wipe yourself clean. Leon made quick work of striping the bed sheets and putting fresh ones on.

You suppress a yawn, after that you were quite a bit tired. Feeling something odd, you move your leg out to get a better look. 'I thought I got all that.' You quickly wipe away at what you thought was the last drip of cum, but another one started rolling down your inner thigh. 'Ugh gross, is it leaking out of me?' You quickly wipe that away too with a grimace.

"Something wrong?" Leon asks as he come back to you.

"Umm, no I don't think so?" you say hesistantly.

"Are you hurt? Are you bleeding?"

"Bleeding? Why would I be bleeding?" you asked confused.

"Virginity? You just lost it?"

"Oh! Well I mean, there was a little, but no..." you trail off squeezing your thighs together.

"Y/N, what's going on?" Leon asks again impatiently.

You chew your lip, "I don't wanna tell you."

Leon softens a bit putting his arms around you. "Please?"

You sigh in defeat. "It's gross, you have been warned. I'm..uh...I think I'm...leaking out...our...you know." You curl your nose while pulling away from him.

"You're.....what now?" Leon pulls back too to look down at your body. You gesture at your legs with the towel. You see the moment he sees it. 

'Kill me right now.' You think as Leon takes the towel out of your hand to wipe you clean again.

"Yeah," he says in a low voice, "that's going to happen. Just..make sure you clean up with a wet cloth. It'll be bad in the morning otherwise."

You eye Leon's expression, "what is that face? Why are you looking like that?"

"That's..." Leon chews his lip for just a second, "holy fuck you don't know how hot that is."

"You're shitting me," you deadpan.

Leon takes a deep breath, "hell no I'm not. I...I really want to do this again but you need rest and I'm sure you'll be sore."

'He thought that was hot?' You clearly don't understand guys. "I'm gonna go clean this off," you call out since you were already walking away. 

"Just do me a favor and come back to bed naked," Leon calls back in response.

You smile and shake your head as you close the bathroom door.


	20. IRL update

First of all let me start by saying thank you so much to everyone who left kudos and commented on my story!!! You guys are amazing and it always brings a smile to my face to see that you have enjoyed it this much!

I have been away on an extended leave due to a family member undergoing cancer treatment. With all the other things (my job and family) I haven't had the time to write like I normally do. The treatment is going well and the person is needing less and less assistance everyday. If things keep going at this rate my life should be back to somewhat normal end of Feb maybe beginning of March. At that time, I'll (finally) have the time to write again. Yay!!!! (Cue streamers and confetti)

Thank you so much for all the love and patience you've shown waiting on the continuation. With REremake around the corner, I'm sure we need some extra Leon and Claire in our lives! I have no plans to abandon this story whatsoever and miss it dearly. There's still so much I have left to tell and I can't wait to get back to it. 

I hope whereever you are in the world you are safe and happy. I'll enjoy getting to see you guys again soon. Much love!!!


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